High School Never Ends
by Flywheel Shyster and Flywheel
Summary: No one said it was going to be easy but jawbreakers be damned if they weren't going to try. Twelve individuals, twelve months to a year, one high school.
1. Freshman

**September**

"_Psst! Sockhead!_"

...

"_Hey, Double-D!_"

...

"_Yo, Einstein!_"

"_What?!_"

"_How long since we started high school?_"

"_Oh, Eddy; not this again!_"

"_How long?!_"

"._.. Twenty-three days and counting._"

"Fuck me."

"I'd rather not."

"_Aight, when's the class over then?_"

"_You have had little over three weeks to memorize the class schedules, Eddy; you should know by now!_"

"_I've been busy._"

"_Doing what; nothing?!_"

"_Exactly, it's really time consuming once you put yourself to the task._"

"You are unbelievable, Eddy."

"_Eh, you do what you can with what you got. But hey; wanna grab Ed after class and hit up the candy store or something?_"

"_I am trying to concentrate on the current lecture, on which you really should be taking notes-_"

"_Ain't you doing it?_"

"_As soon as this conversation is over, yes._"

"Problem solved then!"

"**Mr. McGee**, you claim to have the solution to our increasing national debt?"

**October**

Jonny grasped the strap of his backpack a little tighter as a chill rolled over him. Autumn was really starting to make itself noticed, if not by the shifting colors of the leaves then by the increasing drop in temperature that wasn't actually something you would realize had occurred before it was too late. It felt good though; he was finally on the right track.

His high school experience had gotten off to a rough start. Barely five days into the term had he been sitting in the classroom, lazily taking notes on the history of the civil war, when a sense of urgent realization suddenly stabbed him in his left ventricle.

He was alive.

The obvious things like breathing, blinking, thinking, existing were things he had always taken for granted; comparable to how most people lived in the delusion that the country was run by one man and a congress when in reality the numbers on little pieces of cotton paper seemed to be the most dominating force in the modern world.

So just as the history teacher described Lincoln's last outing to Ford's Theatre, Jonny found himself thinking that just like the majority of their country's presidents he too would one day die. It wasn't important what would actually happen after said death but rather the fact that he simply wouldn't be a part of the reality he had come to know so well.

With a panicked shuffle out the door, throwing an excuse of bathroom related proportions the teacher's way, he did indeed scurry into the lavatory; garnering puzzled looks from the few students hanging around the hallway waiting for their next class. Furiously splashing his face with water, he tried to ignore the crawling feeling underneath his skin and stared at the wide-eyed and terrified reflection in the mirror.

He was a sentient creature in a universe where most things weren't. He was lucky to receive this chance but as his breathing sped up to rapid proportions again, he could only see the mistakes he had collected over the years.

Why had he hidden behind the crayon face of a piece of wood the majority of his childhood? Blamed every offensive thought that popped into his head on Plank? Spend more time talking to himself than to the incredible people that had surrounded him for as long as he could remember? Sure, he was on good terms with most of his neighbors but he had never been as close to them as he wished he could have been. Ed, Rolf, Double-D; all potential candidates for a best friend but he instead chose a fictitious character he had invented in a fit of loneliness. Wasted time. So much of it.

Of course, it had been a mere fourteen years since his entrance into this world; with clean and healthy living, he could have at least another sixty years before he had to make his exit. A lot could be done in sixty years.

But what?

Jonny shivered as he wiped his face with a paper towel, angling a shot straight into the trash bin, before exiting the bathroom; a little less panicked but still just as confused.

The second previous to something on the bulletin board catching his attention and answering some of his questions, he thought to himself that it was this sort of philosophical shit they really should be teaching in schools instead of Algebra.

**November**

"Don't look, Marie, but I think your destiny's approaching." May didn't even bother to look up from her locker at Lee's comment; it wasn't uncommon to see or hear her sisters still making notice of the Eds when they passed them in the hallways every now and then. It wasn't that she didn't still care about Ed in that way, she certainly did, but she decided to make less of a fuss about it having realized that Ed screaming his lungs out at the mere mention of the fifth month of the year wasn't exactly the sort of impression she wanted to leave him with.

"Move it!" She was gracefully shoved to the side by Marie in a rushed attempt to fix her hair in front of the cracked mirror in May's locker.

"Ten seconds ain't gonna do much, try ten years and then we're talking." The blue-haired rewarded the snide remark with an equally snide punch to her sister's stomach.

"Uhm, greetings." The nervousness in Double-D's voice was apparent from the moment he opened his mouth, not to mention the fact that he looked absolutely mortified.

"Hello there, Sugar Plum!" Marie's immediate presence next to the boy was very similar to that of a predator inspecting its prey and only contributed to his bubbling feeling of unease that this might have been a terrible mistake.

"Y-Yes, hello; I came here to-"

"Finally ask me out?"

"Ehm, no; I was actually wondering if I..." He paused and braced himself. "If I could talk to May in private for a moment."

"What?" Marie's face fell immediately, looking between the target of her affections and her confused sister who popped up from scraping some soda off her Chemistry textbook. "The hell you want with her?"

"I believe that would be a matter between me and..." His voice trailed away as Marie's gaze turned disappointed and quite murderous. Lee, who was rather amused by this turn of events, grabbed her by the arm.

"Come on, I think he knows his place well enough not to try something with May." Though Lee's eyes were concealed by her massive amount of hair, the wide discolored grin drove her malicious point across just as easily.

"Yeah, he better..." Grumbling and swearing, Marie was led away from the lockers; leaving the unsettled boy alone with the blonde girl simply staring at him.

"... Hello, May."

"Hi." She had absolutely no idea why this conversation was taking place; it seemed like she was one of the last people in the school that Double-D would have reason to talk to.

"Right, so..." He was still nervous, no doubt, and it wouldn't surprise her if it was because Marie was peering menacingly around a corner or something. "I was having a conversation with Mr. Ridenhour earlier today and... Well, there's no easy way to say this really."

"Okay...?"

"He presented me with a leading position in one of the study groups that are going to occur twice every week, Tuesdays and Thursday, beginning with the next one. I accepted the position."

"Congrats then." Still confused with why she was discussing this with her, she began to absentmindedly chip away old nail polish from her left thumbnail.

"He also presented me with a list of possible candidates for said group and it is with deep regret that I inform you that your name came up."

"What?" Her head whipped up, staring at him in surprise. Yeah, sure; she knew she wasn't the brightest candle in the chandelier but that is was going that bad for her... Mom wasn't gonna be happy about that.

"Now, I know that it must be a rather disheartening topic to hear so early into the term but I plan to make these occasions as supportive and comfortable as possible, since everybody's circumstances for being behind in school work is not necessarily a consequence of a diminished intellect. It wouldn't only be you there, of course; of the more familiar faces making an appearance would be myself, Ed, Rolf, I think Jonny was in danger of needing guidance through Mr. Nathanson's-" Such words as 'supportive' and 'comfortable' might have persuaded most people that this maybe wasn't such a bad thing but there was only one thing in Double-D's rambling description of these study sessions that really caught May's interest. And boy, was it a big one?

"Where on Tuesday?"

**December**

The seasonal change was once again making its mark upon the Peach Creek community; small flakes of white gently coating the environment in an innocent manner. It was a safe bet that there was no one in all of the lands more excited about this meteorological event than Ed.

Upon awakening that morning and finding that his backyard looked more festive than it had since last year, he had pressed his childish grin hard against the window in an effort to soak up the landscape. After fogging up the glass to the point of zero visibility, he had thrown the window open and carefully prodded the immediate wall of white in gleeful amazement. A second passed before his brain made a connection between his finger being cold and his current state of semi-nudity, quickly hurrying to fetch a sweater his aunt had knitted him for last Christmas and a pair of well worn sweatpants.

With an excitement rarely found in individuals older than eight, Ed threw himself out the window and rolled around in the winter wonderland; laughing to himself as he sculpted mutated snowmen and bombarded them with snowballs in an attempt to recreate scenes from one of his favorite Christmas films of all time; 'Santa Claus vs the Army of the Red Snow'.

Not until Double-D and Eddy found him in the backyard hours later soaking wet but smiling widely nonetheless did he go inside and even then did his thoughts mainly revolve around the magical holiday that was once again upon him.

**January**

Sarah weighed the doll in her hand, eyed it suspiciously and turned it over.

Many a times over the last few months had she done this, always coming to the conclusion that she was still young enough to keep her rag-tag companion around for a little bit longer. But today, she wasn't too sure anymore.

Only six months before she turned twelve. A year and half until she was officially a teenager. Little over two and a half before she would enroll in the same high school as her brother and his friends. She was growing up and as a soon-to-be-mature-being one couldn't be seen socializing with stuffed animals at pretend tea parties. Not that it was something she and Jimmy still did but nonetheless.

Polly Poo Poo. A ridiculous, childish name for a doll. Her classmates would probably laugh if they found out that it still held a permanent spot in her bed. Wouldn't want that to get out. When she did have her girlfriends over, she would simply swipe the doll down into the crack between the bed and the wall. Once they had left, she would always pick it up with a subconscious apologetic look. Polly Poo Poo.

She knew Jimmy still had his stuffed rabbit, Mr. Yum Yum (another equally ridiculous and childish name), on display in his room. Not in his bed, that she knew of, but slumped over in an armchair next to a decorative pillow. She wondered if he ever thought about putting the rabbit away, move on from the last piece of childhood that remained. Wondered if this was the day she did too.

There was no doll house, no Barbies of inhuman proportions, no plastic tea set; apart from the disgustingly pink walls, essentially nothing could acknowledge that this had been the room of a little girl. Instead there were posters of various boy bands, make up samples and a laptop that rested upon an unassuming desk in the corner. The room of a teenager. No room for dolls here. Perhaps it would be for the better that Polly Poo Poo joined the rest of her childhood artifacts in the family's guest room. Join the rest of her stuffed friends in the box labeled 'FRAGILE'. Probably sit there until it was time for her to move out.

With a sigh, she dropped it back down on the bed, sat down at her desk and logged on to Facebook. It wasn't time to let go just yet.

**February**

"Come on, Kev!" Nazz's voice was the only thing that could cut through the loud buzz of the adrenaline that plagued his ears and he was always as grateful for it, reminded him that he wasn't just doing this for himself but for her as well. The orange orb left Jonny's hands and collided with his own. He was off.

Swiftly dodging the shooting guard, he faked a right and made his way past the power forward. The ever so familiar sensation of the ball leaving his hand, the silence that deafened the whole gymnasium and finally the buzzer indicating the end of the fourth quarter. The ball hadn't even hit the ground before the crowd exploded in a loud cheer and Kevin was nearly tackled to the ground by the cheerleader.

"Dude, that was like the most radical thing ever; you were on fire!" She began to ferociously plant kisses along his jawline, not caring that half of the school and their mothers were watching.

"All thanks to your cheering, Babe." About to inform her just how sweat drenched he was, the firm hands of his team mates hoisted him up in the air and carried him around the field in a victory lap.

"Two-four-six-eight, Lemon Brooks sucks monkey face!" Grinning widely, Kevin dedicated one final thought to thinking how incredibly awesome life could be once in a full moon. Not only because of the electric atmosphere the stands were generating but because Nazz had rejoined her fellow cheerleaders in an inspiring routine yet never broke eye contact.

**March**

Marie was in a shit mood. It was a shit month, a shit year, a shit week and a shit faced bastard who couldn't help to be the most adorable human being ever conceived. That and other tiny little shit details that, quite simply, added up to make her life absolute shit.

"Hey, the hell d'you think you're doing up here?!" Lee stalked into the room as a reaction to a rather loud noise which had followed an even louder 'FUCK!'. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a tear stream down her sister's face. She grew frustrated when she saw Marie's fist having disappeared into a wall. She got just plain pissed off when she saw that the fist was still connected to Marie. "The hell is wrong with you?!"

"Everything, apparently!" The blue-haired girl quickly withdrew her clenched hand, scraping away a few layers of skin in the process, and stared at her handiwork furiously.

"Obviously, since you put yer damn fist through the wall!" The older of the two walked over and inspected the property damage, completely ignoring the physical damage Marie had obtained. "Mom ain't gon be-"

"Fuck Mom then!" Lee turned around with raised eyebrows, though not visible through her thick hair, and held up a threatening finger.

"You just watch yourself, Marie."

"Fuck. Mom. Fuck. You. Fuck May. Fuck me, fuck this trailer, fuck school and Peach Creek, everything can JUST FUCK OFF AND **DIE**!" She didn't even get a chance to throw the punch she had charged up; Lee was there to force her arm into a rather uncomfortable and painful position, saving an innocent wall from Marie's manhandling.

"Aight, that's enough!" With a firm grip around her arm and leg, Lee easily picked up the furiously struggling Marie and carried her out of their shared room where she with minimal force threw her sister down the stairs. "Get the hell outside and sit on the door step!"

"Who the fuck do you think you-" Marie's eyes widened considerably as she threw herself to the side, narrowly avoiding the chair that had forcefully sailed down the stairs in her direction.

"YOUR BIG SISTER; NOW GIT WITH THE GETTING!"

"Aight! Sheesh, can't a girl be depressed and shit without getting fucked up...?"

"AND WATCH THAT DAMN LANGUAGE OF YOURS!" Doing half of what she had been ordered, Marie sat down outside and mumbled a few well descriptive curses. She had no idea why she was there; if anything she felt worse sitting outside, just barely seeing the rooftops of the Cul-de-Sac where the other kids lived. Where he lived.

Gently pressing the bloodied area where she had cut herself numbed her emotional pain the slightest.

Why'd she have to like him? Better yet, why didn't he like her? She knew the answer to both of course.

She liked him because he was basically the perfect person.

She knew he didn't like her _because_ he was that perfect person, therefor everything that her flawed ass wasn't.

"Fucking hell..."

"Hey, what'd I just tell you?" Marie winced in pain as Lee's hand connected with the back of her head, effectively slamming the front of her head into her knees.

"The hell's up your ass today?"

"You're one to talk, Princess." A very snark remark that was making its way out of Marie halted somewhere in the back of her mouth when she saw Lee pick up a cigarette and place it between her lips. Lighting it with what could easily be taken as years of training, she inhaled deeply before throwing the torn pack to Marie. "Swiped 'em from Mom some time ago, she hasn't noticed."

"You ain't never shared a damn thing with me, why start now?" Half-aware of the dangers that smoking brought, at least from watching her mother and grandfather compete in a race where the end goal seemed to be to cough up a lung, she eyed the pack suspiciously.

"Figured it'd calm yer PMSing ass down." She flinched when the lighter hit the side of her head. "And aight, I get it; y'think your life'd instantly be better if you was with him but let me tell you that it ain't. If you exclude him from the whole equation, the parts of yer life that suck ass now's still gonna suck ass when yer with him. Get a damn hold of life before you try to do some dumb stuff." The bush of red turned to gaze out over the trailer park and the blue fringe was left motionless in place, its owner thinking about how everything she had just heard was painstakingly true and that a damned cigarette was just what she needed to heal that wound.

**April**

The pen tapped against the pad rhythmically, the noise bouncing off the near empty walls and echoing back to its source.

He had absolutely no idea what the music that currently flowed through his headphones defined as, having previously been nothing more than a weak and faint blip on the outskirts of his musical radar, but there was something in it that weirdly enough spoke to him.

The fact that it seemed the exact opposite of the teenage girl idols he and Sarah had swarmed over for the last couple of years; Justin, Timberlake and Bieber, One Direction, Backstreet Boys and that High School Musical phase they had experienced? Perhaps. That the lyrics were so much more inspiring than most of the things previously mentioned? Definitely. That apart from Kevin, who had been blasting the album in his garage one afternoon while tinkering with his bike, nobody in the neighborhood seemed to enjoy their musical genius?

That was it.

For so long had he been nothing more than an extension of his best friend but ever since she had started to mature slowly and develop interests that didn't always correspond with his own, he felt that he needed an identity of his own. Something more than the accident prone crybaby who depended on Sarah to fight his battles and decided what was best for him. Something like this was a perfect beginning.

Pushing his homework to the side indefinitely, he opened up a browser tab on his computer and did a quick Google search. Finding what he was looking for on the first try, he bookmarked the page and resumed his attempt at homework; counting down the time until either of his parents would come home and help him order home the T-shirt he had found. Jimmy'd be damned if he wasn't going to showcase that he too was growing up to be an American Idiot.

**May**

"Mr. Boccaccio-"

"Corbaccio!"

"Right, sorry; I had Boccaccio in here earlier for whacking Mrs. Mortemore in the face with a salami."

"Ah, yes; the ASS!"

"No, the face."

"Rolf is confused; was it not a salami used?"

"Well, yes."

"Ah, then the ASS!"

"Okay, now _I'm_ confused."

"The ASS; the Appreciative Sausage Slap to show thank you for dedication and hard work!"

"... Wow, I thought he was joking when he said that."

"It is no joke; the ASS is a very integral part of the Old Country's culture, the bigger the wiener-"

"Mr. Cor- Can I just call you Rolf?"

"It is indeed the son of a shepherd's name."

"After hearing about this... Ass-"

"ASS!"

"About this ASS, do I really want to hear an explanation for your behavior earlier today?"

"Rolf has fought bravely and hard for the arrival of this day; when his labor ends with the test of acquired knowledge!"

"What?"

"Rolf's... What you say, behavior was a celebration of his fresh year of school!"

"... Okay, so... You were celebrating the fact that you'd taken your last finals before summer vacation?"

"Yes!"

"So racing around the school hallways without a shirt on the back of a manic pig, wearing a string of garlic around your neck and your entire body slathered in marmalade all while chanting loudly about the coming of a great steak-and-kidney-pie; tearing through the art room, chemistry lab and Mr. Elmqvist's Health class before ending up in the cafeteria where you whooped the entire tray of meatballs into Mr. Nathanson before slapping the principal in the face with a two-feet blood sausage. That's a celebration?"

"With an ASS!"

"... The Appreciative Sausage Slap."

"Indeed!"

"O... Kay. You can... Run along now, Rolf."

"Thank you, Mr. Counselor!"

"Please put away the kielbasa, Rolf."

**June**

"I would say that was a rather successful school year, wouldn't you agree?" Double-D drew a deep breath, taking in all the different scents of summer that still caused his heart to jump with joy. As long as he didn't sit too close to Ed of course.

"Too damn long for my taste." Eddy threw down a card into the sizable pile situated in the middle of the three boys, grumbling silently to himself. All this school talk did for him was to remind him how short the summer was going to be.

"Still happy I did not fail!" Ed flashed his teeth briefly before sticking out his tongue, squinting hard at his cards.

"So am I, Ed."

"Seriously though, how'd you pull through the study group thing, man?" Double-D had offered him a place in the group as well but Eddy had defiantly said no; there was just no way in hell that he would sacrifice two afternoons a week to _study_. That was the kind of fun thing you saved for the night before or the last five minutes before class.

"With a little help from my friends!" Ed carefully picked a card and threw it down with an audible and inexplainable '_SLAM_'.

"I dare say that the group really came together better than I had hoped when it came to helping each other, Eddy. Ed was even able to help May with her report on Edgar Allan Poe!" The whole project had been such a success that Double-D had been offered to lead an even bigger group come next term, something that he happily agreed to. At the end of the day, they had fun at their meetings and that was all that was important. Well, that and actually learning something.

"What the- May was in the group? How come I wasn't called in to give Lumpy a hug in the middle of the night because he was having nightmares about Kanker lovin'?"

"I could have sworn I mentioned that to you at some point, Eddy."

"I probably wasn't listening."

"That does have a tendency to occur."

"Seriously though, she wasn't trying anything with you?"

"_Nevermore!_" Double-D smiled at Ed's response, making it evident that his long term plan had experienced some success; Ed had both managed to learn something _and _seen that May wasn't actually the flesh eating succubus that he had treated her as. Triumphantly, he lowered his cards to the pile.

"Gin."

"... Damn it, I thought we were playing Go Fish."

**July**

Lee leaned back in the deck chair and sighed satisfactory. The middle of the summer, sun was liquefying everything in its path and there wasn't a worry in the world. At least not in her world for once.

Smirking smugly, she glanced over the edge of her sunglasses at May and Marie who cussed their way through hanging the laundry. In all fairness, she'd asked them if they'd rather make lunch and do the dishes or this; both had agreed that if they did the third task together, they'd be more efficient and could slack off on the couch while she slaved in the kitchen. Showed what they knew.

Inspecting her toes that splashed around lightly in the inflatable pool, she noticed that they were due for another painting. There was all the time in the world for that though, not like she had a man that would actually appreciate her effort.

Because that was probably the biggest change she'd experienced in the last year; the mother-daughter talk that had taken place mid-February. Her mom had asked her the night before to stay behind while May and Marie went to school, then driven her in silence through the town, out on the highway and damn near halfway through the country. All because Mrs. Kanker thought she was old enough to finally meet her father.

She didn't know much about him and what she did know, she didn't like. So it was only inevitable that she would remain there in the car until her mom had described enough parts of their relationship that wasn't gut wrenchingly awful to even make her consider making the visit.

It was a nice spot. That was all she could think about it.

Robert Panello. A date. Another date. That was it. Nothing about alcohol, sloppy breakfasts in bed, abuse through neglect, the last-minute realized and planned anniversaries, how he left, how he loved, how he lived, how he died. Nothing that defined this Rob Panello as a man. A slab of stone; lights out, adios, good night. The only evidence that he had ever walked the Earth was her very existence.

They spent the next three hours walking around the town, trying out different diners and doing an awful lot of talking. Her mom would point out several key locations relevant to her long lost love story, Lee would share her insecurities and fears of the future. What would become of her. Her sisters. If May would finish school, Marie finally get through her streak of depression. A few tears shed but it made no difference; as many things were said as left unsaid because at the end of the day, they knew both. The drive home was the happiest she had seen her mom since May's dad left.

That was the day Lee realized that she didn't really want a man in her life at the moment. Sure, she still wanted Eddy McGee for the sake of him being Eddy McGee but she figured that it'd either pass or something would happen between them though further down the road.

At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to bask in the sunshine, feel the cool water around her feet and listen to her beloved sisters bicker over clothespins. The rest could easily wait.

**August**

Every joint, every nerve, every muscle in her body burned with a furious pain but still she pressed on. It was the fourth time she had passed the school that morning and the sight of the football field made her aim for a fifth.

She knew she'd slacked off horrendously during the summer; the most active she had been were the lazy afternoons when she'd go to the old swimming hole with the rest of the Cul-de-Sackers. She didn't count the sex she and Kevin had started to have mid-summer, they didn't yet have the experience to make it last long enough to be considered a proper workout.

It was unforgivable. The little voice in her head had screamed at her when she stepped back up on the scale the previous week. Called her things again. Made her relive the pain and humiliation she had experienced the first time around. Fatty. Pig. Oh lard, hide the hot dogs. Nazz with the chubby tubby ass. Her lungs protested against the increase in speed.

No. That version of her was dead. She wouldn't go back to that; not now, not ever. She was too good for that. A van Bartonschmeer. Like her sister before her, she would arise to the position of Head Cheerleader. One day, Prom Queen. There was no other option. If her time was now, she would make everything she could with it. Didn't matter what came afterwards so long as she could at least have a handful of magical moments from the past to fall back on. Until then, there would be a lot of hard work though. Nothing she hadn't passed before.

That was right; if she had done it once, she could damn sure do it again. She _would_ do it again.

The sun started to graze the tree tops. A sixth lap could only do her good.


	2. Sophomore

**September**

Jimmy gently massaged his temple using his right hand while his left held up the book Mrs. Connor had handed out to the class the previous week; 'To Kill A Mockingbird'. The assignment was really to read it out loud in the classroom together but he had found it such a fascinating tale that he indulged himself in it at every moment he could, in this case meaning the lunch break.

"Man, I still can't believe that Abby's started to grow!" The conversation he was having, or rather the monologue his friend was expecting feedback on, neither amused nor peeved him; Jimmy was simply enjoying the company of his friend Wally without actually having to talk to him, mostly because the boy lately rarely talked about anything except the physical development of their female classmates.

"It's unfathomable." It wasn't a subject that Jimmy had yet been completely engrossed by and he thanked the gods for that.

"Huh?"

"I can't believe it."

"Unphantomobile? Man, you've been reading this book too much!" Jimmy rolled his eyes and didn't even raise an eyebrow when his blond friend stretched out a hand to lower the book. "Seriously, we're about to hit the prime of our lives and you're reading about onomatopoeia!"

"What?" Wally's brow furrowed when Jimmy snickered in response.

"Yeah, you know, birds!"

"Ornithology?"

"Nah, I think that was the hospital department I visited my uncle in last year..." Jimmy really liked the boy; he listened roughly to the same music Jimmy did, he stood up for himself in whatever situation and there was this tough guy act he liked to put up, even if he really was one of the nicest guys around. Sometimes though, Wally could be so immensely dense that it just stopped being funny and one just had to lean their head against their fingertips to massage their temples.

"Forget the book though."

"Already have, I haven't got the faintest clue where I left my copy." Wally grinned widely and Jimmy didn't know whether to sock him or to grin along.

"Of course. To go back to what you were saying; I don't really think that twelve is 'the prime of our lives'. I really hope it isn't." Closing the book and returning it safely into his bag, Jimmy studied his tray for a moment before realizing that there was an apple he had yet to eat.

"Yeah, but we're about to hit it! Thirteen, the teenage dream; that's when it all happens! I heard from Scott that his bro had been to Nazz van Bartonshmeer's freshmen party and made out with a girl! A junior!"

"Still, I-"

"He even got to grope her boobs above the bra!"

"Wally, I-"

"Above. The bra. Bro, that is the dream. Can't you see it? Two years from now, we'll be freshmen and everybody's gonna expect us to be these scrawny little kids but nuh uh; we're gonna be _fresh to death _if anything! Think, we're just rolling up to the party, looking flyer than a jet-" The vivid hand gestures and glossed over gaze of excitement confirmed Jimmy's thought that his friend's mind was in way other places than the still half-full tray of mac n' cheese in front of him.

Would he actually one day become... That? Nothing short of a monster, filled with raging teenage hormones, driven by an endless thirst for tasting the skin of the opposite sex? He hoped not. It didn't sound too pleasing to him and besides, he viewed the whole subject of sex as something that would have to wait until he had found a significant other that meant something to him. Or developed feelings for someone he had already met.

Or admitted the full blown feelings for a certain someone that he had harbored for some time...

"- And all of the sudden, Abby walks up and we start talking; you know, taking it slow and all. Then- No, Cindy walks up and- Maybe it's Rachel! Or that kooky girl in the parallel class, what's her name again...?"

"It's-"

"Anyway, you're already chatting Sarah up for a little fancy time upstairs; you've known her forever so it's easier to woo her and she scares the living daylights out of me so I don't want her, problem solved!"

Jimmy managed to groan and sigh at the same time, gently banging his forehead against the table top. He had fought so hard to become a person of his own but when he was with Wally, he got a really strange and funky feeling of déjà vu. Like this conversation had happened before but with other people...

**October**

"Tell me, how does one manage a feat like this?" Double-D didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the sight. Yes, fine; Eddy had never been one to take an interest in preserving the curricular literature in the pristine condition he received them in but this had to be some sort of record.

"Aight, so maybe the plan kinda backfired on me." The book that left Eddy's hand hit the floor with a very audible *SPLAT*, the words describing Jay Gatsby's frivolous life seeping out of the pages into small puddles.

"Kind of? Kind of?! Do I even need to ask what you were hoping to accomplish with this?!" He had seen many a traumatizing things in his days, most of them involving his friend Ed, but seeing this amount of damage done to perfectly decent reading material... Something almost broke inside of him.

"Me, Ed and Jonny were talking about hitting up the cheerleaders' last outdoor practice and, yeah, it was my job to store the ammo..." Of course, there wasn't a snowman's chance in Melbourne that the teachers would accept this as a valid reason to replace all the reading material he had received to cover the entire year. Maybe... there could've been a water pipe that broke?

"You are unbelievable, Eddy. Think of- Think of the costs!" Probably wouldn't work with only his locker affected. Definitely wouldn't work if there wasn't any observable damage to the pipe work. Damage...

"Hey, Ed!"

"Yes, Eddy?" The tall boy perked up at the mention of his name, having been too focused on trying to separate two pages of his anatomy book stuck together.

"Not to mention the mold that could spring forth if you neglect to clean it out properly!"

"Gimme a hand here!" Throwing a glance at his rambling friend, who by then had collected way too much steam to either break his frantic lecture of waterlogged school property or notice that Ed had joined Eddy by the drenched locker, he quickly whispered a few instructions to Ed who simply shrugged and nodded.

"Do you not see, Eddy? The spores alone could spread throughout this entire floor, perhaps even to the second one! Heaven's forbid it should reach the basement! They would have to move everything out, fumigation could take weeks, possibly up to a month! All because you decided to play it fast and loose with some water balloo-" The rest of the beanie wearing intellectual's rant became drenched in a flood of water that suddenly sprang forth from the wall, forcefully catapulting the teenager into the opposing lockers.

"Bea-**uti**-ful, Lumpy! Pull 'er up again!" Eddy could only grin as Ed pushed the entire row of lockers back up against the wall, effectively covering up the massive hole that had been created by Ed's equally massive fist from which water, originating from a pipe leading to the gymnasium's locker room, was now pouring. "That oughta do it! Now, how about lunch?"

**November**

Kevin sighed for, what felt like, the umpteenth time in the last five minutes. He didn't want to do this; it'd be like admitting defeat or something. Anyone who knew him would tell you defeat wasn't his style.

But neither was homework. He'd neglected nearly every assignment he had received since the beginning of the school year and he could swear his teachers were starting to mouth "Yeeeeeeer out!" every time he made eye contact with any of them. It was only now, nearing the end of the first semester, that he actually realized just how serious the situation could become; neither his dad or his basketball coach would let him continue playing if it was affecting his schoolwork negatively. The football coach was going through a harsh divorce so he didn't really give a flying toss about anything.

Football. Basketball. He'd been pressing to start a baseball team but the only reply he ever received in return was that there wasn't room in the budget for another sports team, especially not after the Peach Fizz Fizzlers had been founded. Stupid-ass name for a stupid-ass sport. Swimming. Not to mention the second-in-command was a complete asshole; Kevin had the unfortune to share a multitude of classes with the guy.

So what the hell could he do? It was either swallowing his pride now and continuing with his beloved extracurriculars or flunk out and still do this later.

...

He'd rather do it now then.

***KNOCK, KNOCK***

"_Yes, please come in!_"

"Uhm... 'Sup."

"Oh, hello, Kevin! To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"I kinda... need to join your study group, Double-D."

**December**

He stared at it. He had barely done anything else since he had gotten home. How could he have? That... That _thing._

Ed had to be given props; it was a rather creative and clever thing to give someone for Christmas but... It didn't really do anything to distract him from what it was.

What currently stood on Double-D's desk, causing him much distress, was a cartoonish, overgrown, clay model of a sperm.

It wasn't just simply that of course, that would just have been vulgar. The sperm in question connected to a small rod which itself connected to a base which served as a candle holder, which was the whole thing's intended function. Of course, when one looked upon it, one didn't exactly tend to say "_Oh my, what a lovely candle holder you have!_" but instead take a picture of it and post to the appropriate social media with the caption "_Double-D's got spunk on his desk!_ **#literally**".

Apart from the obvious, he contemplated what disturbed him more; the fact that it hadn't been modeled little clay eyes and only possessed a smiling mouth or that the light from the candle illuminated said smiling mouth to look deviously fiendish. Like it would jump up and devour him at any given moment.

He couldn't very well get rid of it or not display it; Ed would become devastated if he did. But he couldn't damn well keep it standing there, eerily smiling at him. The window was also out of the damn question; someone could walk past his house and casually glance upwards. "_Double-D's got spunk in his window!_ **#literally #neverthoughtI'dsaythat**" It wasn't really something you would want at your nightstand either, greeting you with a smile as you awoke. Not to mention the reactions from his mother and father should he attempt to banish it to the living room...

"_Double-D got grounded because his parents found spunk on the living room table!_ **#literally #classic! #didn'tIusetohavealife?**"

No, his desk it was. His compassionate side argued that he did indeed still have the skull he had received for his tenth birthday on display, not to mention the multitude of medical posters showing the human body in various states of biological undress. His rational side retorted that there was currently a _freaking sperm _smiling at him and that he was in no position to believe logic or reason.

He turned his back on the candle holder and sighed. He had only himself to blame for this, he supposed. It was indeed he who had decided to get Ed the collected works of Monty Python on DVD for his friend's birthday. He obviously hadn't expected the effect this would have on his friend who had recently decided that sculpting things was fun; even more so to give his creations away to his friends with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"**_EVERY SPERM IS SACRED_**" was painted on the side of the base in bright neon green. Had it been Eddy who had given it to him, he would have been sure that there was some sort of snide underlying message to it. Ed however most probably just really liked 'The Meaning of Life'.

Oh, he hoped his friend had been joking when he had been promised a Mr. Creosote gravy dispenser for his birthday.

**January**

Blood stained snow. She liked it. There was something poetical about it.

_Droplets of crimson coloring the innocence black_

_..._

_Showing nature the true face of a sinister pact_

_How we all go from nothing and return to the same_

_We're all born to die one day, that's a fact_

...

She'd overdone it this time, she was sounding absolutely delirious.

Pulling out a disposable tissue, she quickly wiped off her arms, hissing slightly at the sharp pain, before wrapping up the razor in it. Staring at the bloodied mess she had created, she sighed. There had to be a better way. But she had yet to find it.

Shoving the whole package into her pocket, she replaced it with a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. The effect of the nicotine always felt greater after a cut, it definitely numbed the pain of the wounds. Thinking about this, she frowned.

She cut herself to create a physical manifestation of her psychological torment. The cigarettes were a relaxing way to numb the psychological pain. But neither dealt with the pain, only postponed or relocated it. Whatever she did, there was pain. Why? Why had she been damned to carry around so much of it?

A tear slid down her cheek.

She didn't want to. Sure, in the beginning she had actually enjoyed being miserable, mostly because she had gotten used to the idea of there being nothing else, but now it had become second nature and it really did feel like there was nothing else, that there had never been. Like she had always been a depressed, miserable mess.

She didn't even care that much about it anymore. Or anything for that matter. Double-D felt like a distant dream that she had once had years ago. All food tasted like shit. Her sisters were being annoying bitches with everything they did. Her mom seemed the epitome of evil for trying to get her outside every now and then. School was shit but that much could be expected. Everything she scribbled out in her notebook always came around to death and darkness.

Casting one last look at the tainted snow, she lit the cigarette and took a deep drag. Snow crumbled under her feet as she walked home through the woods, away from the frozen swimming hole. The walls of a labyrinth continued to rise around her and, even if she wanted to, she wasn't sure how to get out of it.

**February**

"Rolf grants you gratitude, Basketball-for-Head-Jonny-Boy, for helping out with defrosting the turnip patch!" The shepherd still grumbled under his breath every now and then over the 'cock-all Americans for angering the weather gods'. Spring had finally seemed to have sprung forth the previous week, causing many of the Peach Creek inhabitants to shed their heavy winter coats and opt for the lighter fabrics. Frolicking in the lukewarm sunshine replaced sitting wearily wrapped up in multitude of blankets with a cup of scalding hot tea in their hands, praying for an end to the icy desolation that dominated the outdoors. Bikes were pulled out of storage, the sound of ***ca-kunk, ca-kunk, ca-kunk* **filled the air as skateboards once again traveled over asphalt, balls of various sizes were pulled out to be played with in the middle of the street. Gay times were upon them.

Or so they thought. All it took was one night and suddenly even hell had frozen over.

TV's weathermen spoke of a record temperature low every chance they got before rolling blackouts sauntered into the area, thermometers quickly threw in the towel with a "Open your fucking window and have a look yourself!" then proceeded with resting defiantly on a whooping 106 degrees as this was the closest thing to Tahiti they had and everyone had begun to walk around like hemorrhoid struck penguins trying out high heels for the first time since the streets were nothing short of an ice hockey rink a truck containing a year's worth supply of soap had crashed into.

So immense was the cold that writers everywhere had to elongate their sentences to ridiculous proportions so as to not freeze to death in that short moment of hesitation after punctuation when the muse of inspiration was supposed to swoop in to guide them to the next line.

"No sweat, Rolf; besides, you gave me a ride to the store!" Having discovered that his week long bout of break-backing labor in his backyard field had all been in vain, Rolf set out trying to find a pour, unfortunate soul to help him. But wasn't he proud enough to do it himself? Of course, son of a shepherd and all. Did he not possess the strength then? Why, he could lift twenty barrels of goat cheese over his head! So, just exactly why did he need help?

Simple; he had never needed to operate a hair dryer before.

Therefore he first paid a visit to Nazz, who looked exasperated with the time of day, where he was swiftly shoved a box of tangled up hair dryers into his arms and a door in his face. Next, he found Jonny in the boy's driveway trying hard and failing to chip a basketball out of the thick ice that had encased the entire spot of asphalt. It took a pickaxe, a mighty war cry and an even mightier swing of Rolf's muscular arms for the ball to become free; soaring high over the snow-covered houses for a minute or so before landing in neat little piles in a tree in Jimmy's yard, around Kevin's family's mailbox, sailing down Eddy's chimney and a dozen other places.

The least Rolf had felt he could do was to drive his friend to the store to pick up a new ball and he was rather grateful that it was this act of kindness Jonny focused on instead of having his basketball blown to bits by a raving madman with a pickaxe.

"Oh, it was no, how you say, Christopher Wallace!" Jonny chortled, very much understanding the meaning behind the oddly put phrase, and went back to focusing on the task at hand. A mere quarter of the yard had been melted and it probably wouldn't be long before one of their backs would give in. There had to be a better way.

"Hey, Rolf? Wouldn't it be easier just to boil some water to melt the ice?" Rolf instantly shot up, thankful for the distraction since his back was very much beginning to hurt, and stared at Jonny in absolute bewilderment.

"Of course, Jonny-the-Ball-Boy! Fight water with water! TO THE PIT OF MOLTEN FIRE!" Tossing the hair dryer aside in a very dangerous manner, which basically meant throwing it into a pile of snow, Rolf made off into his house with proud, determined steps. Jonny quickly followed, wondering if Rolf's house actually did possess a pit. It did. What also did happen as a consequence of their philosophy to fight water with water was to within an hour freeze the entire yard into a solid block of ice, stretching ten feet down and incapacitating the water and power lines around Rolf's house.

"Rolf curse the people of these states united for not listening to The Most Reverend Al Gore..."

"You say something, Rolf?"

"Nothing at all, Clever-Idea-Jonny-Boy!"

**March**

What was it about Eddy McGee that made him so... Interesting? Lee had asked herself this question many a times during the years and it was only lately that she realized that she saw aspects of herself in the boy. He was headstrong, stubborn, loyal, tough on the outside but soft for those close to him on the inside. There was also the fascination with money they had both held when they were younger, possibly because neither really ever seemed to have them.

Maybe that's why she'd liked him. She'd always seen herself as this alpha dominant who could just as easily steer alone as she could with her sisters, always thought this was unique and not necessarily in a good way. Until she saw the determination Eddy held.

It'd never been her intention to bully the Eds into submission, just to have some fun and kid around with them. Of course, in both her and Eddy's world, there could only be one king of the hill and she wouldn't be backing down just because some pipsqueak shorty happens to look rather good that one day. Went against everything their mom had taught them. Not everything had been good of course, Mrs. Kanker had been romantically scorned a few times too many to have an unbiased opinion on men, but not everything had been bad either. She'd told them bed time stories about suffragettes and the movement fighting for women's rights. Always disapproving of the pure man-hating feminists who could certainly "use a little more in their life than a glass of wine and a pair of double-A batteries". Mrs. Kanker believed in equality, even if she herself hadn't always been treated equally, and she'd been damned sure to raise her daughters to believe the same.

It always got around to her mom, somehow. It was easy, really; she both blamed her and praised her for the way they'd treated the Eds in the past and she wouldn't have changed it if she could. She liked to think that she'd become a much better person because of it. That didn't mean she wasn't sorry, she sure was about some of the things the Eds had been put through, but she didn't lose sleep about it.

Maybe it was time to embrace this whole growing up thing for real though. Maybe her mom'd been right in what she said the month before when they once again drove to visit Lee's dad. Maybe Lee had to set an example for herself, her mom and her sisters what a strong, independent Kanker could do in this world.

"Hey, McGee." Eddy perked up, a look of boredom quickly falling over his face when he saw who had addressed him, before looking back down at his tray of the school's soggy meatloaf.

"Whattya want, Kanker?" Lee rolled her eyes; throughout every dream, every scenario, every crush, every sad moment, everything they had gone through, there was still something that annoyed her about him.

"Yeah, good to see yah too, Sunshine. Can you just shut that garbage disposal of yers and listen for a few seconds?" He put down his fork, which he had only really used to poke around in his lunch, and glared up at her; probably equally, if not more, annoyed with her as he was with him.

"What is it?"

"You're really starting to piss me off with that attitude."

"You're not exactly the spokesperson for Santa Claus either."

"God damn it, you're really making this hard for me."

"Funny, that's what your mom-"

"Mention my mom again, McGee; I swear your tree'll never bear fruit again."

"Jesus, chill! Just say what you want and get the hell out of here before you get a soggy facial mask!"

"You offering?"

"That's it, I'm going."

"Wait! Damn it, this ain't easy for me, aight? So just sit down, shut up and be patient or something." Eddy did just that. He would later deem it one of the best decisions he had ever made.

**April**

Sarah sighed grimly. Trudging home, she cursed the flow of time that just never seemed to speed up; a wish completely opposite of anyone her age passed. There was a, in her eyes, perfectly good reason for her to grumble about it; her breasts or, rather, lack of.

Gym class had just finished and, as so many times before, she had snuck a few jealous glances at some of the other girls who had taken a few steps further in their development. Sure, there were still a hefty bunch who had yet to even begin lacing up their shoes for this budding journey into maturity but why did she have to be one of them? Why couldn't she already be at the corner of the street, texting her friends to see what was taking them so long?

Soon to be thirteen. A teenager. Attracting boys left and right. A few years ago, the thought scared her but now it didn't seem like such a bad thing. She had seen how Nazz had used her feminine charm to climb the social ladder and though she was only a sophomore, she could very well be in a position to take over as Captain of the cheerleading squad next year.

They'd come at some point and she'd love every minute of it. Sooner or later. She wished it could be sooner.

**May**

A loud noise echoed through the house but the two owners slept on peacefully. It was only the youngest who heard it, quite simply because she had been the source of it. It wasn't an unusual sound, she had come to encounter it at any time during any day and she had learned to cope with it. To cover it up.

It was always worst in the morning, during the first of her two daily ninety minute jogs. The only thing she could do was to increase the volume on the music in her ears and keep focusing on the ferocious burning in her thighs. To keep her eyes set on the prize at the end of this rainbow of hardcore exercise.

She had done it before, she could do it again. This had become a mantra of sorts anytime she felt like falling off the wagon, which was becoming more and more often. When the alarm rang in the morning, when she saw some mouths in the cafeteria munching away on PB&J sandwiches, the smell of her mother's casserole for dinner, when she was too tired to head out for her second ninety minute jog of the day. Whenever that bastard Kevin decided to put butter on his popcorn. When Rolf threw another steak on the grill. Jonny's homemade potato salad.

No. She wouldn't allow herself to think like this. A few more pounds. Only a few more pounds before she could decrease the tempo. Not stop, of course; bikini season was just around the corner. She had lost weight before, she could lose it again.

Repeating this phrase over and over, Nazz turned to her side and defiantly closed her eyes, ignoring the sound of her stomach rumbling which echoed throughout the van Bartonschmeer household.

**June**

"Hey, Nazz."

"Oh. Hi, May; what's up?"

"Nothing, you?"

"Nothing."

"Cool."

"..."

"So... You want something?"

"I... I wanted to ask if you..."

"Yeah?"

"No, it's stupid, never mind."

"No, no, wait! I probably won't think it's stupid; come on, spill!"

"Aight... I was kinda thinking..."

"Yeah?"

"I was kinda thinking of trying out..."

"For... Oh, the cheerleading squad?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"Oh, that's awesome, May! I didn't you or your sisters were into anything except the Ed- Oh, sorry."

"No, it's okay, I get it."

"Sorry... Still, that's so cool! You want some tips on how to make it?"

"Actually, I was thinking if maybe... I could train with you."

"Oh."

"I mean, cheerleaders gotta be fit, right? And I'm not really low-fat material right now but if you could help me out, maybe show how you've done it, I could have a shot!"

"How I've done it?"

"Yeah, all the weight you've lost this year!"

"You noticed?"

"Well, yeah!"

"Awesome, I didn't think anyone saw it! At least Kevin hasn't said anything..."

"How's that going?"

"Up and down, but it's cool right now. But yeah, I'll definitely help you, May!"

"Thanks, Nazz! Thank you so much, I won't let you down!"

"I hope so! Now, first thing you gotta do is set your alarm at 5:30 for tomorrow, I always start the day with a jog to get the blood flowing to get me through the rest of the day."

"5:30 at night?"

"No, silly; in the morning!"

"... Son of a bitch."

**July**

A soft sigh escaped his smiling lips. It was a beautiful day; sun was shining, clouds drifted by and the oak tree provided sufficient shade as to not fry him whole. A good time to be alive.

He still had minor freak outs about it every now and then, coming to terms with existing as a sentient being and all that, but it didn't consume his entire soul anymore. Attempting to live in the now had done him good. He'd connected with Rolf and Ed in new ways, even hung out with Kevin every now and then. All the basketball practice had improved his physical health and, with it, his mental health. His test scores were up, grades were up (which may or may not have been contributed to by Double-D's study group) and he was feeling confident in a way he had never experienced before. Hell, he was even sure that a girl in his physics class had been eying him for better part of the year. Anna, her name might've been, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that she must be shy; every time he met her subtle gaze, she blushed a deep scarlet and looked down at the book in front of her determinately. She loved books, that's what he knew of this Anna.

But now, in the middle of the summer, was not the time to think of school. It was a simpler time, as it had always been, for enjoying life. He could do anything that pleased him. He could stroll over to Ed's house and watch him sculpt; that had been an interesting development. Rolf always needed help at his farm and Jonny was more than happy to help after having had part in turning it into an ice hockey rink for three months back in February, an event after which he hosted the shepherd for two weeks while the pipe work to his house was being worked upon. Kev would certainly be up for a game of hoops. Might invite the whole neighborhood over to watch a movie later or something; his parents were up in the family cabin for the summer. A near infinite amount of possibilities for the day, as well as the next and the one to follow.

Though for now, he was quite content with the sensation of grass tickling his neck, staring up at the fluffy clouds drifting by carelessly and feeling that life, no matter how harsh it could treat you at times, wasn't such a bad thing to come by after all.

**August**

"How low?"

"_Hello to you too, Ed! How are you today?_"

"Oh, I get by, Double-D! How are yourself?"

"_Splendid, if I may say so!_"

"How good to hear!"

"_I was conversing with Eddy earlier and he was in the business of looking for an activity for the day! It would appear as if he and Lee have finally given themselves a day to pursue other companies._"

"Did he say something about the elephant in the library with the candle stick?"

"_No, he did not. I attempted to ask him but he merely fell silent before he began grumbling about school starting soon._"

"That's Eddy for you!"

"_Quite so, quite so; it's becoming rather painfully obvious that there's something going on between the two of them. It shall happen when it happens though, no need to rush things._"

"Indeed, Eddy might be frightened should things go too fast."

"_It's a definite possibility, one that neither parties would benefit from. But__ what do you say, Ed; in the mood for one last summertime shindig?_"

"I would love to, Double-D, but I've been grounded!"

"_Oh, heavens, Ed; what did Sarah tell your mother now? Perhaps I could stop by and convince her of your wicked sister's malicious-_"

"It's really my fault this time and so I'm taking my punishment as a good boy!"

"_Why, Ed! That's- Well, it's not marvelous, of course, but it's good to see you taking responsibility for your actions!_"

"So said Dad before Mom smacked him with the frying pan!"

"_Oh, my... Though not necessarily any of my business, may I inquire what you managed to do?_"

"A sculpture Mom wasn't happy about!"

"_... Did you finalize the Mr. Creosote gravy dispenser?_"

"Oh, yeah! No, that's your Christmas present this year!"

"_I am ecstatic._"

"No, I made a life-sized model of Sir Alfred Hitchcock!"

"_You what?!_"

"Oh, yes! Many a nights were eaten to properly catch the man's genius but I finally did it!"

"_But the amount of clay; it must have cost hundreds, if not thousands!_"

"All thanks to Dad!"

"_Please explain._"

"Just before my birthday, Dad asked 'Son, what d'ya want for your birthday?' and I answered 'I'd like some clay so I can sculpt my family and friends something nice!' and he chuckled and said 'That's me boy. Now, where do ya get clay?' and I said 'There's this site on the internet where' and he interrupted me and said 'Son, I don't really get all that technological mumbo-jumbo you kids get up to; here.' and he gave me his credit card and winked and said 'Buy yourself some nice clay, maybe make me something nice, will ya?' and I said 'Sure thing!"

"..."

"Double-D?"

"_Ed, how much clay did you buy?_"

"Oh, a sufficient amount for a few sculptures! Dad's gonna get one of Mark Twain!"

"_We're no longer speaking sperm-candle-holder-sized, are we?_"

"No, sir!"

"_We're talking Sir-Hitchcock-sized?_"

"Yes, indeed!"

"_My word, Ed; where do you store all this clay?!_"

"The garage! I first planned to keep it in the driveway where the deliveryman had dropped it off but Mom didn't like the idea of Dad having to skip work because he couldn't get the car out!"

"_Oh, you must have cleaned it out then! I recall there being no space for a car in your garage._"

"Still isn't; nobody backs down family heirlooms like Dad!"

"_... So, you are grounded due to all of this._"

"Yes, indeedee!"

"_Would your mother happen to be home?_"

"No, she took Sarah to see some doctor about puberty related things!"

"_... May not have needed to know that. Nevertheless, I shall rally up Eddy and we'll come around; rather interested in seeing how the Hitchcock sculpture turned out!_"

"The third eye shines in the moonlight!"

"_You gave him a third eye?_"

"Of course not, the raven!"

"_Rave- Ed, that's Edgar Allan Poe!_"

"No, Rave is a whole other part of this fandom we refused to get involved in!"

"_Quite so._"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"_... Does fifteen minutes sound good?_"

"Indubitably!"


	3. Junior

**September**

Dejectedly, Marie looked out of the window at her two sisters walking down below, having a conversation that no doubt featured her as the chosen subject. It wouldn't be the first time. Also wouldn't be the first time she didn't give two shits about it. As a matter of fact, Marie had given so little shit about things lately that one would think her entire life was constipated. If you asked her on this, she would definitely agree with your theory and tell you to mind your own shit.

She was fine with the way her life was. Days like these were the best; get up, argue with Lee, reject May's invitation to lunch in the cafeteria, argue with Lee, reject the notion of reality and substitute it with her own, argue with Lee one last time before she watched them walk off to school. Head back to bed and sleep most of the day away, watch TV reruns through the afternoon or just wander around the woods surrounding the trailer park they lived in while blasting music that only strengthened her current mood; possibilities were always endless. She'd still chain smoke, whatever happened. That was important. Smoking provided her with a small spark in the darkness, a brief moment of introspect where she could ponder on things. What she wanted to do, what she had wanted to do. Then she'd ignore all these thoughts until it was time for the next cigarette. In her eyes, these days weren't wasted; she felt it was like meditation. Getting to know herself better.

There were of course the mandatory days where she couldn't skip school, having to maintain a front to her mother that everything wasn't going to hell at quite the rate they were. All she had to do was try to stay awake in class, attempt not to yell too loudly at the scared and confused freshmen who hadn't yet stumbled upon the infamy of the Kanker hissy fits and not punch anyone. She was doing okay as long as she got one of three.

As she returned to bed though, something tied in her general stomach area. A nagging feeling of guilt began its daily routine of tormenting her, all stemming from the trip she'd taken with her mother in the last week of summer vacation. Marie'd been shown the town where her mother had met her father, where Mrs. Kanker had managed to raise Lee and Marie best she could before May's father had entered the picture, a detailed description of the night her dad had gone to prison. The first time. The time before the incident with Marie's eye.

The trip had been born out of her mom's and sisters' worry for her, just as the nagging guilt was born out of her desire to not let her mother down by going to school and doing well. Some days she could live with it. Other days, she wished nothing more than to subtract herself from the family equation. Whichever way she would feel this day didn't matter, she'd still flash her sisters and mother a confident smile to assure them that she was coping just fine. Or at least fine enough to get through this on her own. It didn't matter that the explanations or the fake smiles didn't convince anyone, or Marie herself for that matter, she knew it was all temporary and would pass. Besides, if she couldn't simply shake a little depression, life wasn't gonna be easy for her.

**October**

"Miss van Bartonschmeer, Mr. Michaels."

"Good morning, Counselor."

"'Sup."

"Nervous, Mr. Michaels?"

"Call me Kevin, dude."

"Yeah, you can call me Nazz too."

"Very well, then. Kevin, nervous?"

"You could say that again."

"I understand completely. Nazz, has Kevin explained why he wanted you two to come here?"

"To... Work on our relationship, I guess? I still don't get why you feel-"

"Yeah, about that, babe; that's just something I said to get you here."

"What? What are you talking about, Kev?"

"Kevin, would you mind if I...?"

"God, no."

"Miss van- Nazz. Kevin as well as a few members of faculty, including your cheerleading coach Mrs. Campbell, have raised concerns about your rather alarming weight loss."

"Excuse me?"

"Mrs. Campbell came to me a few weeks before graduation with the worry that you were losing weight too rapidly to be healthy."

"That's a load of- There's nothing wrong with my weight!"

"Babe, please; I've seen it too. I mean, the first time I saw you in a bikini this summer compared to when I see you now... It's like two different people."

"Kev, why the hell didn't you tell me then instead of tricking me to come here?"

"Really? Any time I bring up your crazy workout routines or the fact that you barely even eat, you get all up in my face about how I don't understand health and how your body works."

"You obviously don't; there's nothing wrong with the way I look!"

"Take your shirt off and we'll see more ribs than skin."

"You are such an asshole, Kevin! I'm trying to maintain my physique to look good and try to make Captain of the squad for next year and you don't even support me?"

"Of course I support you, Nazz! But if you're gonna go and kill yourself in the process, I'm not so sure anymore!"

"Excuse me, Nazz, may I ask you a question?"

"Sure, whatever, does my opinion even matter anymore?"

"Of course it does. It is a rather personal question though, I might add."

"Just ask the damn question."

"Hey, no need to be so-"

"God, Kev; haven't you done enough?!"

"Nazz, when was the last time you menstruated?"

"... What?"

"When was the last time you had your period?"

"It's... been a while. Whatever, why?"

"Mrs. Campbell approached me with the theory that you suffer from an eating disorder, something she has seen first hand with a number of participants of the cheerleading squad through the years. At the time, she deemed it too close to the end of the year to properly look into it, but the theory resurfaced after a few practices; she said you seemed more fatigued than before summer and that she felt bad every time she sent you out on the field."

"She doesn't need to worry; I know my body better than anyone."

"Nazz, even I know something's off if you don't get your period."

"Indeed, Kevin. It was when your boyfriend approached me that I knew that we needed to intervene."

"With what? I'm completely healthy!"

"Quite the contrary, Nazz; your body is trying to tell you that it is sick. What you need to remember is: It's not your fault."

**November**

Jonny was in his right element. The loud noise of hundreds of people in the bleachers talking at once, his team mates warming up on the sidelines, the visiting team's coach talking to their Captain, the point guard, while making assessments of Jonny's team. A lot of good things had happened, and would happen, sine the beginning of his junior year but nothing would beat this; the first game of the basketball season.

A quick glance up at the bleachers and a smile crept over his face. They hadn't been going out for long but there was something about Anna that just made his insides light up like dollar signs in Eddy's eyes. Could have been the fact that she was the sweetest girl he had ever met. Could have been due to her much rather wanting to be home with her latest batch of thrift shop books, but still turned up just to see him play. Could have been some completely different reason he couldn't think of it. All he knew was that he was damned happy to have her there to elevate his motivation.

"What do you think, son; do we have a chance to nab this?" Jonny turned at the sound of voice and stood frozen in surprise for a moment at the sight of Principal Antonucci. It was well known that the man was highly supportive of the extracurriculars the school had to offer (something about keeping kids off the street), but rarely did he actually show himself at any events connected to said activities.

"Well-" Jonny cleared his throat and refocused his attention to the court. "They've made some interesting changes in the lineup since last year, improving on some of their weaknesses. Their starting power forward seems to be the most versatile and agile player so that's definitely something to look out for."

"Hmm, yes, of course." The principal nodded thoughtfully, seemingly weighing each and every one of Jonny's words carefully.

"Then there's of course the fact that their center is as big as a three-story house."

"Which means you feel the need for speed."

"We're aiming to be like majestic weasels today, sir." Jonny received a hearty pat on the shoulder. He found that there was something comical about the fact that he himself was in full uniform yet Principal Antonucci's idea of 'sporting event attire' was his regular brown suit without a tie.

"Excellent. Wood, is it? The new Co-Captain?"

"Yes, sir." His world had been turned upside down when the coach had approached him after a practice to offer him the position since Kevin had hastily stepped down due to personal issues. He had of course talked to Kevin before accepting, nothing more than fair play, and had been working hard ever since that day to do his very best for the team, both on and off the court.

"Caught a few glimpses of you last season, Wood, impressive work." At least he avoided the obvious 'woodwork' pun.

"Thank you, sir." The cheerleading squad huddled together on the sidelines to start their routine. He wondered briefly how Anna would look in one of those outfits before realizing the stark contrast between his literature devouring girlfriend and your stereotypical cheerleader. There was a bigger chance that he would laugh his ass off than be in the mood for some snuggling.

"One last thing before I leave you to your duties, Wood: What do you think of the new team name?" The principal had announced a rebranding of the school's competitive teams at the start of the term to boost the declining school spirit. Only the swimming team, the Peach Fizz Fizzlers, were allowed to keep their name since they were relatively new and it had proved to be rather popular at competitions, especially with the bar owners around the venues.

"Honest, sir?" Jonny wasn't entirely sure what to say; from what he had heard, the principal could go from being your best friend to the man gripping your future by the crotch in a matter of words. "There might be complications. Hilarious ones."

"Why so? I think that the 'Peach Creek Power' packs a punch!" The cheerleaders spread out into a row and held up their pom-poms with awesome enthusiasm.

"You could say that, sir." Excitedly, they began to move around in complete sync, shouting out cheers that never took that long to write.

"_Six, five, four, three: We are high on PCP!_" Jonny quickly hid a smirk when he noticed that the crestfallen man next to him looked like he had been sucker punched.

"Yes, you could definitely say that 'Peach Creek Power' packs a punch." Looking back towards the court, he took a deep breath and prepared to join the rest of his team. His element.

**December**

Lee Kanker found herself sighing more and more lately. Considering the range of emotions she had gone through since summer had passed concerning her younger sister, she found that she either tried to sigh as deeply as she could or punched into the wall as deeply as she could whenever frustration rose within. The latter option occurred only once before she realized that the walls in a trailer are really, really flimsy. Therefore, sighing it was.

It wasn't even the damned fact that Marie was constantly behaving like a hungover zombie, no; it was the fact that the blue-haired bitch refused to acknowledge that there was a damn problem to begin with. So many times had Lee tried to reach out, to help, but all she got in return was a face full of curses and denial. There were only so many times she could have that for breakfast before slapping the living shit out of her sister.

The stress felt unbearable at times. Lee had always been the leader of the trio and this situation was no different. "The oldest of the herd taking care of the younger, weaker ones". Ace, her grandfather, had used those words to describe his platoon during World War II and they'd never left her mind since. Her sisters were her responsibility, no matter how much of a burden they were at times. There was no way she would want to involve their overworked, underpaid mom fully in the mess; she had enough to do trying to get the trailerhold's finances together. She was aware that something was up with Marie, but had left most of the thing for Lee to deal with at the oldest sister's insistence that she herself was quite possibly the only one who could get through to the depressed ghoul haunting their home. It was lonely though. Not a lot of people to talk to; her mom was out, for the reasons previously mentioned, and May had worries enough when it came to school and her new waitressing job. This is where her friend Eddy McGee came in handy; whenever May or Marie (almost exclusively Marie) would piss her off beyond belief, she could just pop over to the short boy and rant her head off while he just sat there and listened. Most of the times. He'd fallen asleep once or twice, something that had awarded him a gut check.

"Morning, Sunshine." A sad sight entered the kitchen where Lee stood with a piping hot cup of coffee looking out over the fresh fallen snow covering the trailer park.

"Bite me." In the same hoodie and sweatpants she had been wearing the last month or so, Marie slammed the cupboard door hard after retrieving a mug.

"And a merry Christmas to you too." Involuntarily, Lee's teeth began to grind.

"When's Mom coming home?"

"She'll try to make it home for dinner." Ignoring that Marie had ignored the seasonal greeting, Lee tried to return to the somewhat tranquil state she had been in observing the snow. The fridge door slamming shut made it impossible.

"Typical."

"HEY!" The redhead spun around, furiously glaring at her sister while trying to channel her anger into proper words. This pause made her think even further and it all wrapped up nicely in a guilt inducing thought that made her whole fit of rage deflate: _Mom wouldn't want us to fight on Christmas._

"What's up your ass?" Marie raised an annoyed eyebrow and put the mug to her lips, quick to make a face after she had taken a sip.

"You, to begin with." Lee mumbled the words almost inaudibly and turned back to the window, fanning out the last of the blazing tirade she had automatically wanted to embark upon.

"Whatever." With a scoff, the middle Kanker left the kitchen with slow steps.

'_Fucking hell, even her fucking footsteps sounds depressing._' Trying to ignore the foul mood that was creeping up on Lee herself, she gave up on tranquility and went to thinking instead. Things didn't come easily to the Kankers, she knew that since day one. So if she wanted a Christmas miracle, she had to make one for herself. A seed for a solution began to slowly formulate in the back of her mind and she grinned widely, pleased with her work. One of her better plans in years. One big variable, but it could work.

"BY THE WAY, YOUR COFFEE TASTES LIKE CHICKEN SHIT!"

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, SWEARING ON JESUS' BIRTHDAY?!"

"OH, FUCK YOU, ST. DICKFACE!" Scratch that; _had _to work. It was either that or moving in with Shortstacks McGee. Which probably wouldn't be too bad either. She'd call that Plan B.

**January**

A new year. A blank canvas, an empty book, a patch of freshly turned earth. Infinite possibilities within the grasp of all who dared reach for them. Of course, life wouldn't let you work every little detail onto your painting without throwing some unexpected paint-filled fastballs at you. He just hadn't been expecting them to come all at once with breaknecking speed on the first day.

The night had certainly managed to put some perspective on things. Not just deepening his understanding of her and her sisters as people, but also discovering some new angles to approach his own life. Especially the future. It had occupied his mind for great periods of time lately; what would happen after high school. Some would probably say that he was getting ahead of himself by at least six months, but that was in his nature. He needed to know that there was a definite plan, that he had considered every possible alternative before finalizing his decision. Quite possibly the most important choice he would have to make in his life was not something he would simply toss against the wall and see what would stick. He had a few friends and associates who would most probably be satisfied with this route, but it far from suited him.

The reason he needed time for his decision was that he didn't yet know what he wanted to dedicate himself to. There had been a few definite paths through his life that he considered; some still felt tantalizing, some felt like remnants of a person he no longer was.

Since watching 'Dead Poets Society' at the age of thirteen, he had been harboring intentions to become an English teacher. Finding notebooks filled with data dating back at least seven years at fifteen reignited his flame for scientific research. Following in his father's footsteps at MIT wasn't completely unappetizing either.

However, after one of life's fastballs, mauve in color, had appeared in the form of one Lee Kanker on his doorstep earlier that day with a plea for help, something had begun to take shape in his mind; a vision. He had always been the helpful type, quick to be there for whoever needed him, as evident. As he left his footsteps behind in the new fallen snow, and leaving the Kankers' trailer after trying to convince Marie all afternoon and evening that she needed the professional help he couldn't offer her, Double-D felt a sense of satisfaction that he really could make a difference in the world by helping people, one way or another.

**February**

"Shame about the game though." Ed took a moment to glare down at a particularly large pebble which had disrupted his monotonous footwork before looking back up at Jonny.

"Eh, we did our best, but we just didn't have anything to throw at that yo-yoing shooting guard by the third quarter." The tan-skinned Co-Captain of Peach Creek High School's basketball team moved his basketball-sized head back and forth, following his hands which were making a motion representing the agility and speed of the aforementioned shooting guard.

"You could've tried throwing the ball at him." They both burst into a joyful laugh, carried forth from the innermost center of their souls.

"That's kinda the opposite of what the game's about!" Jonny managed to spit out between giggles.

"Then what is it about?"

"About scoring points... And throwing the ball!" Another fit of raucous laughter escaped them as they ventured on down the main street of Peach Creek. Jonny and Ed had found themselves enjoying the other's company more and more lately; Jonny had, to begin with, become quite interested in Ed's creative process concerning sculpting while Ed just found Jonny to be a hoot and a half once you got to know him better. The oafish teenager was happy for the development; the only currency worth working for in the world was friendship. At least that's what his dad always said right before a frying pan hit him over the head, courtesy of his wife who thought that the sentiment was nice but no excuse not to clean out the gutters.

"Do you think you wanna do basketball in college?" Quite a dramatic shift of topic perhaps, but ever since Ed had been over at Double-D's house for dinner the previous week where the braniac had revealed an extensive diagram of his future career possibilities, Ed had been wondering about it himself. He was hanging onto his barely average grades by the fingernails, most of which he had Double-D's study group to thank for. Could he, would he, study more? Would he, could he, become bored? There wasn't a tub of ice cream's chance in Canberra that his mom would allow his dad to pay for college if he was just going to drop out a year or so later. No, he had to be damned sure about the school or he would be damned sure to regret it.

"I don't know." Jonny gave an exuberant shrug of his shoulders. "I talked about it with Dad the other night and he gave me the usual 'I'm proud of you, whatever you do'."

"Yeah." Ed heard it all the time from his own dad, especially whenever the man came home after a round of drinks after work.

"So I brought it up, just to try the limit, that I might wanna do what he did." The taller of the two waited a moment for a continuation that never came.

"What?"

"Huh?" Jonny was pulled out of a thought about butterflies in the wind which had interrupted his speaking.

"What did your dad do?"

"Oh, right. Well, granddad would've preferred him to become a lawyer or something equally stiff, but dad went along with his heart's desire to study music. Still says it's the best decision of his life." Deep breath, lots of words. "Then he kinda raised me on the same philosophy: Follow your hearts and dreams, music kicks ass. So, I don't know, maybe I wanna strum my way through college and see what comes." Ed nodded deeply, chin touching stomach deep, and coughed. He hadn't any idea that Jonny was musically interested or inclined, but he knew the feeling expressed.

"I feel... The same. I never really got why you would choose what you do for the next forty years right away."

"Exactly!" Jonny's arms soared majestically through the air as if to accentuate the exactness of Ed's words. "I didn't like coffee five years ago, but I do now! It's like, why all the hurry to plan your life for a person you may not even be twenty, ten, even five years from now?"

"Damn." Ed stopped dead in his tracks, staring straight ahead. "Damn!"

"What?!" Jonny's head whipped around, trying to survey the environment for the thing that had caused Ed's reaction, but only succeeded with making himself dizzy.

"That is some deep shit." A look was shared before a barrelful of laughter poured out of them once again. They picked up their slow walking pace again and continued their journey, which by then felt to be endless.

"So what are you thinking about college?" At last, they reached their destination; a coffeehouse that Ed ventured to quite frequently after school to engage in thinking creatively. Few went there (mostly due to the fact that whatever you ordered, food or drink, it all tasted the same; absolute shit), but it suited him just fine.

"I don't know, I'm kinda thinking about- Damn." For the second time in five minutes, the yellow-tinted teen froze in place, staring straight ahead. This time, it was through the coffeehouse's enormous front window.

"What?" Barely had Jonny turned his head to try to make sense of his friend's interrupted sentence before he felt himself being violently yanked backwards, his hand being ripped off of the door handle, and falling to the ground with something hard yet mushy cushioning the blow against the ground. Taking a moment to compose himself from the sudden equilibrial shift, he could identify the situation as being so simple that he was currently lying on top of Ed.

"May." Emotions, countless and countless of them, streamed through Ed, sparked by the adrenaline originating from his quick act of pulling Jonny out of the window's view.

"No, pretty sure it's February."

"No, May, inside." This was something he didn't discuss that often. Or rather, hadn't ever discussed with anyone. His conflicted emotions concerning the yellow-haired Kanker sister.

"May Kanker?"

"Yes. I think she works here." Which must have been a recent development since this was the first time he had ever seen here there.

"So?"

"It's weird." Another thing to thank Double-D's study group for. Lately, Ed found himself thinking more and more about her, even when he wasn't actually struggling to help her with her homework outside of school. Thinking about her face, her body, her laugh; it all lit up something within, something he'd never experienced before. On a theoretical level, he knew that this meant he liked her. Nothing wrong with that, of course. But then a second player entered the level and pointed out that maybe she didn't feel the same way as she had changed quite a considerable amount since the days of the Eds v. Kankers matches. That's why he kept his mouth shut and just hoped it would all go away. If it didn't, then he would.

"I gotta say, Ed, that this is also kinda weird." Which is why he was lying face up on the sidewalk with his arms wrapped around Jonny's chest in what could be misinterpreted as a loving embrace; to avoid May. "You got a crush on her?"

"... I don't know."

"Aight, I get it. Hey, let's hit up the candy store then; I hear they got these new rainbow flavored jawbreakers from Taiwan!" Rolling to the side, and out of the display of affection that bypassers were starting to think tenderly of, Jonny proceeded to crawl out of the window's field of vision on all fours.

"Alright!" Thankful for Jonny's understanding of a matter he himself didn't even understand fully, Ed flipped over and crawled after his friends with a wide smile plastered on his face. Nothing swept away worries of infatuation and the future like a good friendship, lots of candy and a bag of weed.

**March**

Sarah turned over and sighed deeply out of irritation for, what wouldn't be unreasonable of her to think by then, the millionth time. The bed felt harder than it previously had, even though she knew that it was the same bed she had had in her room for a good couple of years. The pillows managed to morph out of shape just when she had found a comfortable position, even though they had hugged her head snugly for countless of nights. Even the damn comforter was misbehaving and she had half a mind to throw it across the room if it didn't offer her some comfort soon.

It wasn't the sleeping arrangements that was scaring away the slumber though. No, it was just a simple excuse to avoid the real reason for her sleepless state. A punch.

Not the first one she'd ever thrown, far from it; she'd been socking people left and right since the day her arms could support themselves to stay upright. This was a completely different sort of punch though. From her old point of view, it was the first unfair punch she had ever landed. A pure reflex, out of fear. Fear of what, she didn't know.

Todd had approached her in the hall and told her that he fancied her. It had been that simple. A boy had asked her to be his girlfriend and she had socked him right in the stomach. Slammed her locker shut and hightailed it out of the hallway, leaving Todd on the floor, clutching his torso. Only when she had locked herself in a bathroom stall did she stop to think. It had most definitely been an overreaction, one Todd didn't deserve, but she still couldn't put her finger on why it had happened. Without a word, she had hurt him. Physically. Like that. Was it really that easy for her, just to snap like that? She had always considered herself to be more feisty than aggressive, especially when it came to her brother Ed and his stupid friends, and that she only ever pulled punches whenever she needed to stand up for herself. But this wasn't that. This was just mean.

From there, the thought process spiraled out of control for a bit where she would sit on the closed toilet lid and systematically analyze her behavior over the years for the next hour, making her miss the next class. Every argument, fight, screaming match she had been involved with everyone from Ed to Jimmy. The resulting conclusion led to a catatonic state from which she had yet to really snap out of. She could be violent, she could be horrible, and she could accept that. What she couldn't accept was the fact that she didn't think twice before slipping into that mindset. The different ways she could inflict as much pain as physically possible to another person.

A tear slid down her cheek.

She didn't want to be this, she didn't want to be a bully. Having seen first hand how the Kanker sisters had treated the Eds once upon a time, she definitely knew she didn't want to be that. But how, how could she change something that had been such a big part of her for so long? What people probably thought was... What people must think of her. Constantly on the defensive offense whenever someone did or said something not to her liking. How the hell couldn't she have seen this behavior before? She was a damn monster!

Turning over for the million and first time that night, she was tired. Tired of being angry. There were no more excuses that she, or her mom, could throw up as a defensive measure to this problem. Something needed to be done before she got herself into some serious trouble.

A thought crossed her mind; school counselors. She remembered back when Ed was a freshman and how he had went there, struggling to keep up with school, and having been flung to the proper person to explain that Ed wasn't naturally slow, simply dyslexic. After this, he received the help he needed to do better with his studies. Also, through the grapevine, she'd heard that both Nazz and Marie had kickstarted some sort of plan to help with their respective problems thanks to the same counselor. Maybe that meant Sarah could get helped as well. She hoped so. This couldn't go on. Making a mental note to look up her own counselor the coming day, she realized that she really needed to apologize to Todd. He deserved better. Also, he was kind of cute, when she thought about it.

**April**

The counter. The clock. The door. The counter. The clock. The door. An annoyed grunt. The clock. The door. The counter.

May had been standing like that for the last twenty minutes, trying to make time pass by shifting her gaze between the three objects. No one had walked through the door after she had arrived two hours ago, she'd already wiped down every surface wipeable and counted the money in the cash register thrice. There wasn't jack shit to do in the coffeehouse and that was beginning to piss her off. At least if she had something to do, someone to tend to, she could avoid obsessing about her upcoming study date with Ed.

"Come on, come on..." Fixating her eyes on the clock while muttering to herself only seemed to nail the hands down so she quickly gave up, as she had done several times already, and stared out the window again.

To say that she'd been surprised to see Ed come smiling through the door a few weeks previous was an understatement of a high degree; she hadn't seen a single soul she knew in the months she'd been working there. Having taken the table that seemed to wobble at the slightest touch, she thought it weird that he naturally counteracted the jerky movements of said table to keep his cup of coffee steady, not to mention hindering his breakfast platter to slide off without even looking up from his notepad. She figured they'd managed to miss each other every time one or the other was there, though she couldn't for the life of her imagine why he would drink the coffee they made; whoever in the staff made it couldn't avoid the definite fact that their coffeemaker produced liquid garbage.

Gripping the counter impatiently, she began to sway back and forth in place. Thinking about how she'd been slacking off on her exercise. Still thanking her lucky stars she didn't make the cheerleading squad. Sure, it would've been fun, but after seeing what Nazz went through... May wasn't really the most secure and confident person there was to begin with and she had a feeling that a place on the squad wouldn't have helped her reinforce that.

A sudden noise made her look up, but disappointment washed over her when it turned out to be a bunch of kids playing with garbage can lids across the street. Shouldn't Ed have been there by now?

Speaking of Ed, the young man had been acting weird lately. Well, it was Ed, whose middle name could surely be Weird, had it not been Horace, but he had been sort of... Distant. Well, his second middle name could surely be Dist- He hadn't initiated contact the way he had previously done with his trademark ferocious positivity. It's like they went from friends to buddies to associates in the time it took to pluck a goose which, she learned from Rolf in the study group, was a lot less time consuming than one would think. Maybe it was just a phase. She really hoped it was; if he wouldn't reciprocate her feelings, which had always been lying dormant under the surface, then she certainly wanted to be friends with the guy. Secretly wishing they could do what Eddy and Lee were currently doing; those two sure as hell weren't fooling anybody.

"Apollo for being late!" She had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts about Ed that she jumped backwards in fright when the boy actually burst through the door, panting heavily. "I was talking with Mrs. Cipriano about my art project and lost track of time!"

"It's okay, Ed; not like I'm in a hurry or anything." He offered an amused chuckle at her gesturing to the empty locale.

"Would it be possible to order a coffee before we make ou- off?" The slip of his tongue didn't go unnoticed, but she shrugged it off as being out of breath from running.

"I'm still on for fifteen minutes so yeah, absolutely!" They smiled warmly at each other and she turned around to make a fresh batch of coffee. "So, we going to your place today?"

"That was my plan, yes! I was thinking we could sit in the backyard, what with it being springy weather and such!" His ardor about such small things like the weather was literally contagious; it was like the street outside suddenly bathed in sunshine for the first time since she got to work.

"That sounds awesome!" She turned to lean against the back counter where the coffeemaker was puttering away. "I was actually thinking that since it's Friday and all..." Her words trailed away as a faint blush came over her face and she quickly looked down.

"That it is. It is indeed Friday."

"I swiped some wine from Mom yesterday that I kinda thought we could have; she won't even know it's gone." That half full jam jar in her bag had worried her all day. Marie had once spilled a glass of white on the carpet; no stains, but the whole living room smelled like mold and sour grapes for a week afterwards. Since she was rather fond of her school bag, she'd been carrying it around the way one would hold around an infant or a thermonuclear device.

"I don't think I've ever had wine." Ed's scrunched up his face in thought, something May found absolutely adorable. "I'll give it a go though; it'll be like a picnic!"

"Sure beats studying the normal way." Placing a cup in front of the laughing Ed, she poured the coffee in it before disposing of the rest in the pot; no one was likely to come in by now.

"That is so true." Taking a careful sip, his face scrunched up even further than before as he carefully lowered the cup.

"Hot?"

"Nope, tastes like shit. Just the way I like it."

**May**

"Ain't that the truth!" Something incredibly funny had been said and they were both in stitches, wheezing slightly from the sharp cigarette smoke they'd bathed their lungs in.

'_This is it._' He thought. It was one of those moments that had been milked to death by Hollywood to the point where it was more romantic that the moment was an imperfect stain that could offer a few chuckles at parties. It was just perfect; the moonlight, the water, the grass underneath them, the laughter, the joy, the Lee, the Eddy, the emotion. So he finally prepared to do what he'd been thinking about all night; to kiss Lee. He leaned in closer towards her. Seeing her turn to face him, he tilted his head slightly and closed his eyes in great expectation of the magical meeting that was about to occur. His heart skipped a beat when it happened, when they made contact. But it wasn't as magical as he'd been expecting. It was actually a rather big let down. Also, it had hurt like hell.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Right, that's not a kiss; that's called being punched in the face.

"What the hell do you think _you're _doing?! I'm trying to be all romantic here and kiss you!"

"Why'd you want to?" She retracted her fist and let out a huff, looking back out over the swimming hole.

"Why- Because I like you! What kinda stupidass question is that, why would I want to?" Eddy sat back up, carefully rubbing his now sore chin. They were still sitting as close as before, but the magic had sure as hell packed up shop and gone home for the night.

"I..." Defiantly, Lee averted every part of her vision from him and ended up staring into the dark forest.

"Holy shit. You're speechless. I've actually gone and made you speechless." His face adjusted accordingly to show off a smug grin. "For the first time, you have absolutely nothing to-" This night really wasn't going the way Eddy had hoped. The 'kiss and punch the air' to 'punched in the kisser and soaring through the air' ratio was definitely not set the way he had hoped.

"Stop. Doing that!" With a quick check to see if his jaw was even still attached to his face, Eddy sat back up yet again. When he didn't receive any form of reaction, he placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder, hesitant because he was starting to think he might have to part ways with his handsome profile before the night was over, and tried to formulate what he was thinking. "Look. Uhm... Shit."

"Well said, Skippy."

"Look, I just... Fucking hell, why do you have to make this so hard?!" He pulled his hand back, slightly ticked that nothing was going the way he had hoped. "We ain't never been holding back to each other, always accepting when we fly off the handle. So why the hell can't it be that simple? Forgiving you for all the shit you put me through over the years should've been worse and we knocked that out of the park over a couple of coffees and cigarettes so why the hell does it have to be some kinda complicated, deep explanation straight out of Freud's book that I wanna kiss you? I like you, I've been liking you for a while and I just thought this would be a nice place to kiss you for the first time! For me, that's the only fucking reason I would ever need!" Barely had the final punctuation escaped his lips before he was yanked forward unexpectedly and finding himself a very, very short distance away from Lee's very, very serious face.

"Kiss me then." Swallowing loudly, which was rather painful due to the fist clenching his shirt in close vicinity to his throat, Eddy nodded.

"Y-Yes, ma'am."

**June**

"_The Hammer residence, Eddward 'Double-D' speaking._"

"Hello, Ed-boy! It is Rolf: The son of the shepherd, descendant of the great-"

"_Yes, yes, Rolf; I'm very aware of who you are._"

"Excellent! Rolf grows weary of his titles once and then."

"_I understand. How are you this evening?_"

"Good, good, Sock-in-hat-Ed-boy! How are you?"

"_Oh, I can't complain, I suppose. Engaging in the daily reviewing of colleges over the internet, still not sure if I would like to take the technical path or the medical._"

"Ah, of course, of course."

"_Yes_."

"..."

"_Is there something I could assist you with, Rolf?_"

"..."

"_Rolf?_"

"Rolf simply wish for some company."

"_Pardon?_"

"Wherever the son of the shepherd looks, he finds his friends occupied with their doves of turtle, joyous because the shackles of school has once again been opened. It makes Rolf's heart ache for the Old Country where his own little goat milker lives."

"... _Apologies, Rolf; I didn't catch half of that._"

"Oh, you catch Rolf's drift; Plough-horse-Ed-boy and Straw-haired-Kanker-girl, Kevin and Go-Go-Nazz-girl- No, wait, Rolf mistakes himself. It is so odd not to be able to say their names together."

"_Seconded. I just wish they could have had a bit more privacy for their breakup than what the seniors' graduation had to offer._"

"Indeed, many a cameras caught that moment. Now, where was Rolf?"

"_Rather unsure, though I believe you mentioned Ed and May before moving on to Kevin and Nazz._"

"Ah, of course; thank you, Ed-boy! Tabletop-head-Ed-boy and She-who-throws-like-a-six-legged-yak-Kanker-girl, Jonny-the-ball-boy and his Book-by-book-girl. No one has time for Rolf anymore. Rolf feels alone on these nights, thinking of his beloved goat milker back home. No one in these lands could tame an ox like the might of Rolf's Gerta! Gerta, who sits alone in the Old Country, watching her friends with turtledoves cavort around the knockwurst, just like Rolf does here."

"_Oh, I think I understand now-_"

"Even Double-D-Ed-boy has found Engine-head-Kanker-girl!"

"_Ah, no, common misconception; we're simply friends_."

"If you say so, Ed-boy."

"_Oy.._."

"Rolf begs your forgiveness for airing his dirty pantaloons all over your night, Ed-boy, but Rolf was wondering if Ed-boy would like to, how you say, 'get up to something'?"

"_Oh, well, yes, most definitely, Rolf! I was intending to meet up with Marie, May and Ed in a little bit-_"

"Oh. Rolf understands all too well, Ed-boy. Maybe Victor could keep Rolf company for the night then."

"_Come now, Rolf; I would be more than happy for you to join us! Nothing special, simply a walk around the area, talking about everything under the moon!_"

"Ah, yes, Rolf failed that test."

"_What?_"

"Rolf failed that test, writing 'ozone' for all the layers of the atmosphere!"

"..._ It's an expression, Rolf; it means we can speak freely about whatever we feel like._"

"Ah, Rolf is good at such tomfoolery!"

"_Yes... Yes. Now, if I were to contact Marie and decide upon a meeting point, I can pass by your home and pick you up shortly. How does that sound?_"

"Good until the 'picking up' part; Rolf is lonely, but not that lonely, Ed-boy!"

"_Oh, for the love of-_"

"Although-"

"_**NO!** No! No 'although' to that!_"

"Very well then, Ed-boy; you may come by and we shall venture out into the night for great adventures!"

"_I can't really guarantee the night's greatness._"

"Ed-boy needs to widen his horizons; that's why he couldn't simply pick up someone like Rolf!"

"... _I'll see you soon, Rolf._"

"Hail and fare well, Ed-boy; I must prepare for the journey!"

"_Do that._"

**July**

"Dude, found the problem. Or what started it, at least." Kevin emerged from the engine house of the tractor, wiping his drenched forehead with his arm. Oil and grime covered both face, hands and shirt, but he loved it. The metallic smell, the problem solving, the tinkering; he had forgotten how incredibly gratifying a Saturday in the garage could be.

"What is it, Kevin?" Rolf didn't even look up, focusing intently to stay on the skateboard underneath his feet. Having cleared out every crevice in his house of things that reminded him of his relationship with Nazz, Kevin had stumbled and tripped over his old board. In a bout of nostalgia, he'd taken it for a spin around the neighborhood and found that he still possessed some form of skill. Ever since, he'd actually favored it over his bike, an object which he and Nazz had had many a fights over.

"See this?" A worn, old piece of metal shaped like the number three was held up. "This is supposed to be round. Half of it must've broken off and wreaked all kinds of havoc in the engine house 'cause it's like a slaughterhouse in there." He jerked a thumb in the tractor's general direction and a few droplets of oil traveled the same way.

"Rolf recognize this piece; he installed it two months ago!" The farmer didn't seem too worried about the engine trouble, much more interested in swinging back and forth to make the board move.

"Must've been some damn shyster who sold you this flywheel then." Tossing what was essentially scrap metal aside, Kevin grabbed a dirty rag hanging off of the hood of the tractor and wiped his hands. "I tell you, there's no way I'm gonna be able to do this job alone."

"Well, let us ask the Too-smart-for-his-hat-Ed-boy for his assistance then." Rolf's arms began to flail as his body almost fell to the right because the board wanted to go left.

"Double-D? Yeah, good idea." Jumping up and closing the hood, Kevin pocketed his wrench and his portable speaker blaring out some playlist Nazz had made ages ago and walked out of Rolf's garage, taking the board from the farm boy while he closed his garage door. Lazily doing a few kick turns, he tried not to look there. Tried to ignore her house. Failed more than once. They'd always loved these last days of July. Too hot to do anything so there was an awful lot of lounging around. Too hot for wearing clothes.

"Rolf hopes the Ed-boy is home as a dead tractor is of no use to the farm."

"Yeah." Kevin shook his head to collect his thoughts. It was over. He had to face that. Of course, it was easier said than done when an obvious part of your life for the greater length of four years departed out of the blue. Too attached, too clingy, overprotective. He could understand her viewpoint, sure, but had it been him who almost starved himself to death last year, she'd be kinda keen to keep tabs on him as well.

It wasn't a new problem though, he knew that. It had always been like that, he had to be the one to make her happy. Well, had and had, he liked to make her happy. He wanted her to be happy; after all the nights he spent consoling her during the... Phase where all her clothes were basically just designer tents, he never wanted to see her in that state of mind again. And when it turned out she went to the other extreme end of the scale because she still saw herself as being huge, it struck a severe blow to him. All the time spent saving her from the world and he couldn't save her from herself. Nazz was Nazz, in any shape or form, and he would always love her for it. Even if she didn't feel the same way towards him anymore.

"Oh." Kevin suddenly found himself standing in front of Double-D's door where the young man himself had appeared, blinking in surprise. "Hello, gentlemen! Apologies for my brief pause, but this is... Quite unexpected."

"Yeah." There was truth in his words. Kevin didn't know why, but he and Double-D had rarely hung out, either in a group or just the two of them, which was curious since they got along rather well once they did.

"Hello, Ed-boy!" Rolf took command, straightening himself up to his full height. "Rolf has trouble with his tractor and he and Kevin-boy were hoping you could lend a hand or two!"

"Oh, yes, of course! What seems to be the problem with it?" It was almost like a fire lit up in the Ed's eyes at the mention of the tractor, a passion for the mechanical Kevin could relate to.

"The flywheel, shitty production, snapped in half and tumbled around the engine God knows how long. It's pretty gruesome, dude." Double-D nodded at his words, stroking his chin in thought.

"Yes, it sounds like that could cause quite the devastation... May I suggest that you bring it over to my garage so that we can assess the situation? I believe I have a few appliances that could suit this job perfectly." Okay, passion was one thing, but the beanie wearer was starting to resemble a mad scientist as he rubbed his hands together with wide, almost manic eyes.

"Of course, Ed-boy! Come, Kevin!" Rolf turned, growing more optimistic by the second that the tractor could be fixed.

"Be right back then." Kevin followed Rolf back to his house while Double-D wordlessly threw open his garage door, consumed in thought over the conundrum soon to be in front of him.

"Joy of joys, Kevin-boy! Rolf's tractor will soon be-" Walking back to Rolf's however meant walking in the direction of Nazz's house, something that yet again sent his thoughts into a stupor. "Kevin!" Also something his friend apparently wouldn't allow.

"What?"

"Rolf understands that it is difficult, but if life is to continue, Kevin needs to accept what has happened and move onward. It is as the good Theophrastus, brother of the bearded maiden Yeshmiyek, says: 'A ham pickled yesterday has nothing on the eggs greened in a fortnight'." He knew this. He told himself this every chance he got. But he wasn't sure he wanted to move on without Nazz. Hell, Nazz would've been the friend he'd turn to for consolation on this had she not been the cause of sorrow. Instead, he got... Whatever the hell it was Theophrastus had yapped about.

"I know, I know. Look, let's just get your ride over to Double-D's; I'm itching to get started on this." Eager for anything to offer a distraction from his heartache, Kevin watched impatiently as Rolf jumped up into the driver's seat and turned the ignition. The engine hacked and spluttered for a moment before it stalled. Trying again gave the same result. Turning the key with all of his strength a third time, Rolf sank back into his seat when the whole tractor died instantly.

"Rolf does not think his tractor shares your enthusiasm, Kevin." He offered Kevin a sheepish smile, while the jock groaned and let his head fall against the vehicle in frustration; pushing a tractor to the next door house would probably prove to be more than enough of a distraction.

**August**

A devilish gleam adorned his eyes. His parents had gone to visit a few friends out of town and wouldn't return home until the evening. Jimmy had the house all to himself.

Taking a round to see that he was actually alone, he returned to the hallway and stared at the front door. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to prepare, he tore the towel away from his hips to let it dangle freely in his hand. One eye cracked open tryingly before the other joined to see the result. His stomach was doing somersaults and his lips trembled around his nervous smile, but he was doing it. His hand opened and let the towel fall to the floor with a wet *****_**splat***. _He was standing there in his hallway, naked as the day he was born.

He carefully went into the kitchen, as if walking through a soap bubble scenario, checking his reflection in the shiny surfaces as he went. He could conclude, after a raid on the fridge, that he felt incredibly liberated and that the sandwich he'd made tasted of pickles and freedom. Originally, there had been doubt when Wally had talked about how he usually threw caution to the wind and walked around in his birthday suit when he was home alone, but now Jimmy had to agree that it was something strangely pleasant with letting it all hang loose. It felt so natural. Another bite accompanied the thought of what he would do now; Wally hadn't really delved into what he usually did once his clothes were off. So he guessed he had to improvise.

Ten minutes later and his improv was in full swing. If one were to look in through the window, one could hear the latest Fall Out Boy album being blasted on full volume from a playlist, while a pale teenager danced around the house dressed only in sunglasses and holding a second sandwich in his hand, miming along to the lyrics between bites. He was having the time of his life, which was just what he needed. A whole summer had been spent trying to spread his social attention as many ways as he could which was the absolute opposite of standing halfway up the stairs in the nude pretending to be Patrick Stump. Why hadn't he ever done this before?

Reaching the final chorus of that one track that always made his neck hair stand on end, he spun around victoriously with his hands in the air, giving his all to this one performance. What he hadn't been expecting was an audience. Nearly every muscle in his body tensed up as he locked eyes with his best friend since childhood who stood frozen in the open front door. He flashed a wholehearted smile, happy to see Sarah, before noticing her eyes slowly trailing downwards. Oh.

"_Shit!_" His curse was held down and beaten up by the blaring bedlam of the triumphant music, but he didn't have time to reflect upon it as he quickly lowered both his hands in panic to cover himself up, hopelessly sending the sandwich flying majestically through the air and hitting the wallpaper where one half managed to cling stuck thanks to a combination of peanut butter and jelly. A thousand thoughts raced through his mind, but none seemed to stop and see if he needed assistance, so he simply stood there, hands clamped to his nether regions and a deep crimson tone taking over his cheeks. His other cheeks were on the other hand getting rather cold, now that he had stopped moving around so much.

They stared at each other, both in complete disbelief, as the song ended. A brief silence came along to enhance the awkwardness of the situation. Jimmy considered saying something to... To simply say something for the sake of saying something, but didn't get very far as the one half of the sandwich stuck to wall chose this moment to start parting from it with a very rude _***SCHLOOOORP***_, something Sarah smiled in amusement to. The sticky bread bid the wall a good day and made off to hit the floor with a polite _***FLERGH***_, to which Sarah grinned widely. When Jimmy learned why he should've made a fresh playlist from scratch instead of throwing his new music into old lists, Sarah burst out laughing like mad as Justin Timberlake's 'Sexy Back' began to play. Jimmy covered his eyes and sunglasses with one hand, as if it would help to erase the embarrassment he was feeling if he couldn't see what was going on, and shook his head; this was not something Wally had warned him could happen.

Something wet and very heavy hit him in the chest and it took a substantial amount of willpower to stay upright while still covering his groin. Sarah disappeared into the living room after throwing one last look at him, laughing her ass off. Thankful that she had at least thrown the towel to him, and closed the front door after her, he sighed begrudgingly for nude people who didn't have friends barging in on them and made his way up to his room, still with a crimson flush to his face. They said freedom came with a price. That, he couldn't deny.


	4. Senior

**September**

Sarah emitted a guttural sound, a primal combination between a sigh and a grunt. Though she tried her best to handle her anger instead of flying off the handle, she would still find herself making this sound whenever frustration rose to peak levels. Usually it was reserved for Ed's antics or homework that bored her to no end, but not this day.

Puberty was a bitch, there was no arguing that. Things had begun to hurt as other things grew and developed, not to mention the fact that the monthly visit from the PMS-fairy was an absolute nightmare for herself and especially her surroundings. The thing that pissed her off the most was when the two combined. She'd put on a bra in the morning and immediately throw it into the wall for digging into her skin too much, then grind her teeth loudly for the rest of the day because she was walking around unsupported. She cursed her younger self for even wanting the damn volleyballs currently attached to her front in the first place.

Actually, no. The thing that really pissed her off the most about puberty was hormones. They'd been fuck-all buzzing around inside her for a good month now and she was getting really sick of it. Sure, she'd started seeing Jimmy in a new light ever since he'd re-discovered himself through his Green-Chemical-Fall-Out-Blink-phase, but it had always been in a sort of 'Huh, yeah, that's good, I like' way. At least until last month, a couple of days before they both started high school. She entered his front door without knocking, like she'd done countless of times before, and walked in on him standing halfway up the stairs, singing in a state of undress she had never seen him in before. Naked. Real proper buck naked. Everything there was to see in the front. And now, whenever she thought about him, he was almost always naked. Standing there. The seconds before he gathered his wit and covered himself up. 'I wish for you to ravage me savagely on a bed of bark before we begin looking at picket fences together' was the best way of defining her current thoughts about him. It was absolutely insane how her emotions could just explode like that. Or, well, exploding emotions was sort of her calling card, but not of this type.

Her hand ran furiously through her bright red hair. She would describe their friendship as... Complex. Jimmy had, since the beginning of forever, been like a little brother to her, meek and in need of support. Then he seemed to embrace pop punk overnight and became occupied with his own things whenever she called or texted. Sitting with his own friends during lunch in school. He became his own person, independent from her. She couldn't quite put her finger on when this growth in personality had begun, but she liked it. She _really _liked it.

All of this usually added up to something similar to her current situation; at a coffee cup covered table across from Jimmy in a cafe, annoyed that the young teenager was seemingly the only boy around who could hold a conversation with her for more than five minutes without even glancing at her growing boobs. Seriously, what good were they if they couldn't even attract the attention of her crush?

**October**

Lee threw one leg over the other and crossed her arms. She could've figured, from the moment she walked through those doors with Marie last spring to support her in her endeavor to raise her grade average, that this is what Double-D's study group would come to. Herself, her sisters and all the kids living on Eddy's street. Even the two youngsters, Jimmy and Sarah, had signed up first thing they did entering Peach Creek High. There was probably something poetic about it, she mused; only the twelve of them, together under civilized terms for the first time in, what felt like and could very well be, forever.

Even if it hadn't been for Marie, who'd needed all the educational tools available after those innumerable days of skipping school to sit at home and be depressed, Lee probably would've ended up in the group out of curiosity sooner or later anyway. Her friend turned boyfriend Eddy McGee had gone from constantly moaning about the heavy workload the school dumped on them to talking about the fun things they could do later in the blink of an eye. All because he'd finally caved and joined the damn study group. In hindsight, Double-D was probably a better teacher than half the faculty. Then again, maybe that's because he knew them all personally and knew what methods of learning could best be applied. Either way, she was grateful for it.

Why? Because college. The urge to enroll somewhere and get a higher education had been growing for the last couple of months. No one in her family had ever gone; her mom, dad, grandparents had all felt there were more important things in their lives, except for her grandfather Ace who might've gone had it not been for him being thrown into the Second World War after which he couldn't be bothered with it.

She felt like it sort of fit her on some level. She'd always been the head honcho of the sisterhood; making sure they did what their mom told them, always looking out for her sisters and just making sure that they were all leading the best lives they could. So maybe if she went, May and Marie would see that it wasn't such a horrible, horrible thing to have a plan for the future, no matter how half-assed it was. Marie especially.

The funny thing was that when these thoughts had begun to take form in her mind, her first concern hadn't been what she would actually major in. It had been that lovable pain-in-the-neck McGee.

They had a good thing going, she figured, and the long distance would probably be killer for their relationship. Then again, she'd also thought about what would happen if they both just stayed in Peach Creek and got various jobs. That trail of thoughts usually ended with the two of them unhappily married living in the trailer park with a handful of kids. Her mom had made it work somehow, sure, but Lee didn't want her kids to live the sort of life she and her sisters had experienced during their first years.

Those years. Moving cities every few months to escape either a father of one of the sisters or child services, always being dumped with neighbors when their mom had to work, never knowing if there was gonna be food on the table. It had been rough. Even if they managed to shake all of those problems off when they came to Peach Creek, it had still shaped them into the people they were today. Especially Lee.

"Lee?" The redhead's whole body jerked at the mention of her name, bringing her back to the present where eleven other teenagers sitting in a circle were looking at her expectantly. Right, study group.

"Sorry, what?"

"I asked if you have any plans for the future you might wish to share with us." Double-D said half a dozen seats away. That's why she was thinking about college again; he'd asked them all what their plans were after graduation.

"I don't know, college maybe." Something clicked inside her in that moment. What if that's what she should do; help kids? The sort of kids they had been; who didn't have enough, who needed support and whatnot. Fixing the broken system that failed her and her family when they needed it the most from the inside. It wasn't a completely horrible idea.

"Any particular direction you might consider going in?"

"Yeah. Social worker." If she went through with it, all left to figure out was what the hell she was going to do about Eddy.

**November**

Rolf still stared at the receiver resting on the hook. An ache had been growing inside him for a long time and he wasn't sure how much longer he could stand it.

He missed his home, the Old Country, more so than ever. With his friends all a-buzz about the future, colleges and jobs, he couldn't help but constantly be reminded by the fact that he didn't feel like he belonged there in Peach Creek. Or the States as a whole for that matter.

There was always the farm, of course. He could easily follow Kevin's advice; pack it all up and relocate it out in the countryside where he could expand it, make it more profitable. Alas, if only it were that simple. To only have money to worry about, to only have dollars to be fighting for. None of that had ever mattered to him and it never would; the values he had been raised on by his parents and ancestors were nowhere near as trivial as rectangular pieces of cotton with numerals scribbled down on them. He had been taught how to nurture the land, value the gifts that the animals offered, to make a living with your two bare hands and earning what you could bring in with them. A completely different kind of independence from the one his current neighbors had learned.

This was another reason he had grown weary of Peach Creek and its surrounding areas; they were beginning to feel claustrophobic to him. Concrete and blacktop, houses and buildings too big even for their intended purposes, stores with no real specifications so they deal with everything. Though most things were made to be as big as possible, they couldn't have felt smaller to him. He who had herded sheep in forests sizes which would laugh at meager acres. He who could be climbing over enormous mountain chains with his goat and still be home in time for dinner. They who would gather each night in front of a blazing fire that could ignite the ancestors in their castles above in the heavens, telling tales of previous deeds of greatness within the village. Right about now, they would probably begin to speak of him yet again. The Son of the Shepherd who sailed across the Great Ocean, taming the giant sea cucumber and making a life for himself in the new land.

A sad smile played on his lips, like it so often did when he thought of her. Gerta. How she would sit in that circle with his kin and retell the events of summers ago when he ventured to her village in Norway and asked for her hand. Fighting off at least a hundred strong men, though the precise number tended to shift to suit the listeners, and surviving on the frozen tundra for a month with nothing but a can of pickled herring and an empty barrel to prove to her father that he was worthy. How he would one day return triumphantly to her in the Old Country where he had to leave her because she wouldn't be allowed a visa to the States. The monthly phone calls she made when she joined a few brave men and women of his village who defied the harsh weather of the surrounding mountains every few weeks to find the closest town miles and miles away.

There was a life waiting for him across the sea. Was there any reason for him to build one here then?

The sound of the door bell dispersed home sickness and nostalgia. Rolf strolled over and opened the door, mighty surprised to see the majority of his friends fall through it as they had huddled together on the door step. In his bout of daydreaming, he hadn't even noticed that snow had begun to come down hard outside. Nazz and Jonny quickly scurried off into the kitchen with a box full of instant cocoa, Ed tugged at May's wrist wanting to show off all the strange artifacts Rolf's house held and Double-D sought solitude in the bathroom for a minute to escape Eddy and Lee's bickering over her apparently ruined hairdo.

Soon, the living room filled with laughter and joy, all of them gathered on couches and in armchairs each with a steaming cup of hot cocoa in their hands and blankets thrown around their shoulders. Insane tales of the past passed around, adventures long forgotten were unearthed and dusted off, everyone shared their personal perspective on anecdotes that had grown to legendary statuses over the years. The night would fondly be remembered as one of the first in a long time where the focus laid not with the future, but with the past.

Rolf stood smiling in the doorway, allowing himself a moment to enjoy the sheer warmth of the picture in front of him. Friends, old and new. It was upon looking down on the tray of cookies brought by Ed and May he had gotten up to get in the kitchen that sad realization overcame him. He did indeed have a life across the sea, but he had spent many a years to build one there in Peach Creek as well. So whichever path he took, he would be leaving something truly beloved behind.

**December**

"Hi, May!"

"Oh; hi, Nazz!"

"I didn't know you worked here!"

"Yeah, it's been a year or so now. Always good to have that pocket money!"

"Don't I know it..."

"What'll you have?"

"What do you recommend?"

"The cafe three blocks over."

"That's really funny!"

"I wasn't joking."

"Okay then..."

"Let me get you a coffee and you'll see what I mean!"

"Alright, cool. Hey, have you applied yet?"

"Not yet, probably gonna get around to it this week. What about you?"

"I don't know. Can I tell you something?"

"There isn't a single soul in here apart from you; shoot."

"Ever since the whole, you know, eating disorder and all,"

"Yeah."

"I've been feeling sorta inspired to do something similar. You know, help kids with those sort of problems."

"That's awesome!"

"Yeah, I'm just... I don't think my parents'll like it all that much. They've been wanting me to become a doctor or a lawyer or something like that."

"Yeah, but isn't a shrink a doc?"

"My dad's never been a big fan of them. Not since Mom slept with hers anyway."

"Woah."

"Oh, yeah; just before freshman year, quick thing, talks of divorce, stayed together for the kids. You know how it is."

"That sucks. Hey, here's your coffee."

"Thanks. I just don't know what I'm gonna do. I don't want to disappoint them."

"Hey, if I've learned something being a Kanker over the years, it's that parents will support you no matter what if you decide to go your own way."

"Yeah..."

"If not, then they're just assholes."

"Maybe my parents are assholes then."

"Yeah, maybe. But how happy are you gonna be if you aim to please assholes your whole life?"

"..."

"Oh my god, are you alright?"

"Yeah- Yeah."

"What happened?"

"I snorted at your 'please asshole' bit and choked on the coffee. You're right, May."

"About pleasing assholes?"

"No. Well, yeah, that too. But you were right; this coffee really tastes like shit."

**January**

The door to the gymnasium swung open with ease and the familiar scent almost overwhelmed him. Physical education was far from his favorite subject, but it felt like it had been an eternity and a half since he last sat foot in it. It had really only been more like two weeks or so since the start of Christmas break, but what two weeks. That's what had brought him there anyway.

Jimmy stopped for a moment to admire the scene in front of him. Though sports of any kind had always been out of the question for him, there was a sense of beauty in it that he liked when it came to a well-planned, cunning strategy and the pinpoint control over limbs and mind as they danced over the court. Even if he didn't like to play himself, nothing said that he couldn't instead enjoy watching the sport of basketball.

Jonny, who was the reason he had even shown up, led the whole basketball team in a simple exercise jogging back and forth between the hoops and shooting, all while he led them in a chant.

"I do not like green eggs and ham!"

"_**I do not like green eggs and ham!**_"

"I do not like them, Sam-I-Am!"

"_**I do not like them, Sam-I-Am!**_" Jimmy snickered; the whole thing was just so very typically Jonny.

"Alright, that's it for today! Hit the showers and sound off!" The Team Captain clapped his hands and the whole squad jogged off in the direction of the locker rooms.

"_**Eggs and ham!**_"

"Sound off!"

"_**Sam-I-Am! I do not like green eggs and ham!**_"

"Great work today everyone, see you next week!" The last couple of players disappeared through the doors when Jonny finally noticed that he had a spectator. "Hiya, Jimmy!"

"Hey, Jonny. You're doing a great job here!" Jimmy approached the field, carefully avoiding the multitude of basketballs that riddled the floor.

"I try, I try. I think we might actually have a chance to claim the trophy this year!" The Captain wiped the sweat off his forehead with his arm. "Help me clean up?"

"Absolutely." They began to gather up the basketballs, taking turns to aim for the basket where they belonged with Jonny obviously doing a much better job. "So how does it feel to be the Captain of the team?"

"It's heavy sometimes, sure, but it's real good fun too!" Jonny sank another ball and smiled at his young friend. "You didn't really come here to talk about sports, did you?"

"No. No, not really." Jimmy missed yet another shot and sighed heavily. "I have a problem."

"Oh, we've all had our fair share of those. What's up?"

"Well... You have to promise not to tell anyone."

"Of course, buddy."

"I... Slept with Sarah." The sound of the ball missing the target completely and violently bouncing off the wall, skidding off into the corner, echoed through the gymnasium.

"I wasn't expecting that." Jonny motioned for Jimmy to follow him, setting the fair-skinned boy down on a bench while he positioned himself on the floor. "Alright. Alright, so you... Slept with Sarah. Now, when you say 'slept'-"

"I mean sex."

"Yeah, I was kind of thinking that. So, what's the problem?"

"What's the problem?" Jimmy ran a hand through his uncharacteristically unstyled hair. How he hadn't wondered for days just what the problem was. "For one thing, I don't remember it."

"Alright, buddy, you gotta give me some backstory here." Jonny folded his legs up underneath him and leaned over, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Okay. Okay." The freshman collected himself for a moment before exhaling nervously. "It was New Year's and we were at a party at a friend's house; Brandon, likes to write. It was supposed to be this simple affair really, but then someone thought it would be a good idea to open up the liquor cabinet because, hey, it was New Year's and we were apparently old enough to decide for ourselves."

"That's a treacherous attitude, I'll tell you."

"Oh, I know that now. I believe that we had emptied half of Brandon's dad's alcohol supply just before the ball dropped. At the stroke of midnight however, someone thought it would be a good idea to have a person to kiss since that's what grownups always do."

"And you got Sarah?"

"No, I think it was a classmate to Sarah; Jenny, a writer-person too. Whoever it was got a sharp elbow in the side when Sarah drunkenly announced that I was hers and only hers to kiss."

"Damn! That's some good game you got there!" Jimmy's sad shrug spoke of a contradictory opinion.

"One thing most likely led to another, as I don't recall much of anything after that, and we woke up in my bed the next morning. Naked."

"Yeah, that doesn't really scream 'romantic gesture'." Jonny stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"No, it doesn't. We barely said a word to each other after we woke up and we haven't spoken since."

"Back up, back up." The mocha-skinned young man threw up his hands. "You haven't talked _for a week_?!"

"It's been awkward. Really, really awkward."

"I can imagine."

"I just- I don't know-"

"Hey!" Both of them turned their heads at the appearance of a third voice in the echoing gym.

"Oh, right, I completely forgot." Jonny whispered to Jimmy before raising his voice again. "Hey, May! I'm sorry, but could you maybe wait outside for another ten or so? I gotta finish something with Jimmy here, clean up and get changed!"

"Sure, Jonny! Hi, Jimmy!"

"Hey." The cheery blonde turned and exited through the same door Jimmy had come through. "I didn't know you two were friends."

"Oh, we've been buddies for a couple of years, even before she and Ed joined hands." Jonny let out a smile. "She kinda helped me get rid of Plank."

"Really?" It had been a few months after the whole incident with Eddy's brother that Plank seemingly disappeared out of Jonny's grasp for good. No one ever asked about it, afraid to hurt the boy's feelings should it have been due to a tragic accident or something of the sorts.

"Yeah. She's kinda cool." Jonny threw a glance at the clock on the wall. "Look, what I've learned over the years is that being alone in the universe? Not good. Friends and family are one thing but when it comes to that person who makes you whole, makes you happy to wake up because you'll get to see her today again; there is nothing that beats that in my opinion. I'm not saying that you and Sarah are made for each other, or me and Anna, but I bet that you could have one heck of a time trying to find out."

"True." The possibility that this whole thing would be the start of a relationship with Sarah had occurred to him, but it was almost always shoved down and strangled gruesomely by the depressing aspect of maybe losing their friendship all together. Though he couldn't change what had happened, he could decide where he wanted to go from there. If she would want to as well. "I'll go to her house tonight."

"Alright, buddy, sounds good." Jonny patted him on the knee in support and rose to his feet, holding out a hand. "Help me clean up now?" Jimmy grabbed the hand and was pulled up, smiling warmly.

"Anything for a friend, Jonny."

**February**

Shouldn't she feel happier than this? Wasn't that the usual emotional response to seeing those words printed upon a piece of paper? She was sure of it. Ed had run around the Cul-de-Sac for three hours, cheering loudly that he wasn't doomed for the soup kitchens when he had received his letter. So why was she feeling like the letter in her hand was more of a burden than anything else?

She had never really been sure of her choice, even when she had made it. It had been one of those 'yeah, maybe, sorta, I dunno' decisions and she knew it. She didn't want this wholeheartedly. Even if a scholarship would pay for it. Her beloved goofball of a boyfriend would still be halfway around the world whatever college she went to so distance would always be a problem. Shouldn't she at the very least be working towards something that she actually wanted to do then if she wouldn't be able to see what could possibly be the love of her life for months apart? She thought so. Whatever that would be, this wasn't it.

"Hey, May." She heard her sister Marie enter the kitchen, but made no effort to return the greeting, instead continuing with her effort to stare a hole through the letter in front of her. "What's up?"

"Nothing." May muttered, envious of the carefree way Marie had disregarded any attempts made to convince her of going to college. She wished she could be more like her blue-haired sibling who even without a surefire path in life seemed so certain of herself. That all would be all right in the end. Maybe that's what conquering depression did to you.

"What you got there?"

"It's nothing." Before May could dispose of her letter, Marie had leaned in over her shoulder and read a few lines from the paper before gasping loudly.

"_It's nothing?! _LEE, GET YOUR SAGGY ASS DOWN HERE!"

"THE HECK DID YOU SAY?!"

"GET MCGEE'S DICK OUT OF YOUR MIND AND GET TO THE KITCHEN!"

"OH, YOU'VE GOT AN ASS WHOOPING COMING, MARIE!" The steps of the oldest Kanker sister practically flying down the stairs thundered loudly through the whole trailerhold. Lee stomped through the doorway, teeth gritted and sleeves pulled up. "Now, was there something you wanted to tell me?!"

"May got into college!" The redhead stopped dead in her tracks and blinked, confused at this sudden change in conversation.

"What?"

"May's going to college!" Marie jumped up and down, not even bothering to contain her excitement.

"Really?" Lee took one look at the paper in May's hands before punching the air triumphantly. "Oh, yeah! I knew Double-D's damn study group'd be good for something!"

"Our little sister's going to college!"

"Yeah, she is!" Lee and Marie embraced each other, happily laughing and cheering loudly at the prospect of May receiving her acceptance letter. That was the sort of excitement, May thought, that she should be experiencing had she done the right choice. So maybe she hadn't.

**March**

"Oh, hey, Anna! Come in!"

"_You're going to **AUSTRALIA**?!_"

"Oh. Didn't I mention that?"

"NO?!"

"Right, damn, my mistake. It's just with winning the championships and applying for a visa and carrying school, I just kinda... forgot about it."

"You're going to college on another continent, Jonny, and you didn't even think to swing that by me?!"

"Well, come in to begin with. And yeah, I did!"

"When? When did we ever talk about Australia?"

"It was right after the first game of the season; you, me, Ed and May were at the diner to celebrate after hours and Ed and I talked about how cool it would be if we got in."

"I thought you were just joking around!"

"No, not really. Ed's gonna study visual arts and I'm going for music."

"Jonny. Jonny, Jonny, Jonny."

"Yeah?"

"Look, I'm really happy for you and all, you know I am. You know that I love you and I love that you're going after something you love. But didn't you ever stop to think about what this means for us?"

"Oh. Oh... Well, no, not really. I just sort of got caught up in it all and... I'm sorry, Anna. I'm so sorry."

"Yeah."

"I'll bring you back a kangaroo for Christmas, I promise."

"Jonny, don't try to lighten the mood by cracking jokes."

"Or maybe you'd like a koala for your birthday instead."

"I'm serious, we need to talk about this!"

"Well, what if I come back with an accent?"

"Jonny-"

"Oi, mate! 'Ere's a real beauty, real majestic thing, that I picked up in the outbacks!"

"Oh my god, that is the worst accent I've ever heard!"

"Made you laugh though, didn't it?"

"... You're stupid."

"I sure am."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

**April**

"The fuck is this?" Marie peered down into a hidden hole in the floor, surprised at what she was seeing. "Is this- Did you install a second engine?"

"Just a little something to keep myself occupied when I was not cooped up with homework. A little like therapy at times." Double-D grinned widely, more than satisfied with her shocked expression. "Of course, being simply a prototype for now, I call it 'Phoenix V1'."

"There're no V-engines with only one cylinder." The blue-haired Kanker got down on her knees and leaned down to inspect the engine closer.

"Oh, no; the 'V1' defines it as 'Version 1'. Though I foresee no major problems for now, further development might be a necessity."

"Further development?" Marie got back up and gave him a puzzled look. "Hang on, you didn't just install it the way it was?"

"Oh, I did." Pause. "After I built it from scratch."

"From scratch." Marie's shook her head and snickered. "You are hands down the biggest showoff I've ever met."

"Modesty isn't always the greatest virtue used to impress people." He motioned for her to follow him and they both exited the van from the back doors. "I even named her."

"'_Megan_'?" Marie read off the side of the vehicle where small, cursive gold letters had been printed on. "Who the hell is Megan?"

"It's not named after a certain individual if that is what you insinuate." Double-D swallowed loudly at the darkened look on Marie's face.

"I give you five seconds to tell me who she is. Five-" Marie took a menacing step forward, making Double-D take a nervous one backwards.

"Please, Marie, I assure you-"

"Four."

"It's not what you think!"

"Three."

"Marie, if you would just-"

"Two."

"Contain your nefarious-"

"One." Double-D closed his eyes and threw up his arms, expecting to get the beating of a lifetime.

"Envy!"

"And zero." When nothing happened long after the five seconds had passed, he opened one eye nervously to find Marie's smirking face inches away from his. "You always were cute when you're nervous." She kissed the tip of his nose and moved back, returning to puzzling over the name of the van.

"W-What?" Double-D fidgeted with his beanie in confusion.

"I'm only messing with you; you name your van whatever you want." She flashed him a kind smile to convey that she held no malicious intentions towards him.

"Ah. For a second there, you had me convinced that you really-"

"Wanted to beat you to a pulp 'cause you named the van after some floozy you got it on with? Please, those days are past."

"Oh. That's good to know."

"I'd beat up the floozy instead."

"... I'll make sure to invite you over for dinner when I do meet someone."

"Charmed." She motioned towards the name. "So what's with the name then?"

"Ah, of course." Double-D re-positioned himself back beside her. "Well, it carries two meanings of sorts. One is that the first two letters in the name equal the first letters in our names; M and E, Marie and Eddward. Since this was a team effort of sorts."

"Clever."

"The second meaning is also why I shall be handing you these some day soon." He held up the van's keys and jiggled them around. "M-E-gone."

"Wait, what?" Marie raised a confused eyebrow.

"I don't believe that I will really need, well, _her _once I set out on the journey that is college. There's also no real purpose for her to just be gathering up dust in our garage so I imagine that the most suitable course of action would be for you to continue taking care of her. I mean, you know her basically inside out by now and your knowledge of things mechanical should be sufficient enough to-" Double-D's rambling speech was cut short when Marie threw herself against him, embracing him in a bone-crushing hug.

"Thank you." It still surprised her how they had grown to become friends after everything that had happened between them, how he could actually value their friendship enough to give her something like this, something they'd worked on together for half a year. She wondered if she would've even considered forgiving someone who put her through what she had done to him. But that was just another reason she liked him so much as a person; he would always be the bigger man.

"You're- Welcome!" He gasped for breath when she released him, leaning against the hot metal of the van to collect himself. "Would you like to do the honors?"

"I'd love to." Marie snatched up the outstretched keys and jumped into the driver's seat, excitedly throwing on her seat belt; he'd probably have a fit if she didn't. Twisting the keys in the ignition just as Double-D climbed into the passenger seat garnered a roar from the engine before it proceeded with spinning satisfactory. "Oh, yeah, that's what I'm talking about."

"Now, would you kindly press this button here?" She looked down at the space between them where he pointed to a bright white button which stood out against the rest of the decor.

"Why?"

"Just press it, please." Marie did as she was told and her whole face fell when the purring of the engine suddenly died. She looked over at Double-D who was fastening his seat belt with a calm demeanor to him.

"What did I do? Did I kill it?"

"No, you simply activated the Phoenix back there." His lips were drawn out into a smirk, something she wondered if he had picked up from her. "It's an electrical motor."

"Are you saying you made this van into a hybrid?" It then struck her how much she would actually miss this clever young man when he left for university. He had grown to become a great friend and rock in the vast ocean of her life.

"Yes. Yes, I have." Her stupid, smug rock.

"I am so turned on right now."

"... Thank you for the information."

"I'm serious, you can do me in the back of this van right now."

"I might have to pass on that offer, thank you."

"Can't blame a girl for trying."

**May**

"Sorry, man."

"No, it's- Kev?"

"Oh. Hey, Nazz."

"Hey." The two stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do next. It had been almost a year since he and Nazz had gone their separate ways and they had yet to have a conversation about anything less trivial than the weather.

"So, you excited about tomorrow?" It felt so weird, like they were two strangers urged together at a party by a common friend where both struggled with all their might to come up with something interesting to say.

"Yeah, you know, start of a new life and all." She laughed shortly. "You?"

"About the same." Even though their graduation the forthcoming day would probably be a joyous and happy occasion, there would surely be a small part of his mind recounting the events of how she had dumped him during last year's ceremony in front of the then seniors and their respective families. "Hey, heard you got into Georgia State."

"Yeah, going to get a Psych major." The blonde tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "What about you?"

"Berkeley, Mechanical Engineering."

"That oughta suit you just fine." She flashed him an honest smile, something he hadn't received since, well, last year.

"Kinda figured the same." He hated it though, how stilted the whole thing was and that every word brought them closer and closer to the end of the conversation. It had occurred to him just earlier that day that if they couldn't rekindle at the very least some form of friendship before they were off to college, the chances of them ever becoming friends again were slim and that was definitely not something he wanted. Even if she didn't want to be his again, even if he would have to wait until his own passionate flame died out, he would take it all just to be able to call her his friend again. "Hey, when do Georgia State start?"

"Registration's during the first half of August, why?"

"Me and Eddy were kicking around an idea a couple of weeks back that maybe we'd take a week or two before college starts to road trip. You know, see the country and stuff. One last adventure."

"What car are you taking?"

"Dad's old station wagon." He knew she would remember it; they'd planned to take a romantic trip to the Grand Canyon for their two-year anniversary but got caught in traffic at sundown due to an accident on the freeway and ended up having sex in the backseat.

"Oh, yeah." She smiled fondly. "Don't you think the backseat'll be disappointed if it doesn't get any action this time around?"

"Never say never, maybe me and Eddy'll sneak back there if we get bored with the scenery." She burst out laughing, propping herself up against the wall for support, and he couldn't help but let a nostalgic warmth overtake him. Perhaps there was a chance yet.

**June**

"Hey, Dumb-Dumb." Ed looked up from the box in front of him to find Sarah standing glumly in his doorway.

"Hey, little sister." He grinned in his usual goofy manner and resumed with his previous activity.

"Still packing then?" Sarah took a few steps in and looked around. Without all his movie memorabilia, self-made sculptures and nostalgic remnants of days gone past spread out across the room, it struck her how much the grimy bed shoved into the corner conveyed the sense that it was all a prison cell.

"Yep, last box going with right here. End of the final chapter." Ed too had felt similar things. Though he was filled with excitement and nervousness over going to Australia, there were also the mixed emotions of leaving this now empty room behind. All of his possessions, everything he had collected over the last eighteen years, stuffed into boxes either set to follow with across the globe or stand there in the basement until he returned. It had been haunting to see his life gradually disappear over the last few weeks.

"What you got there?"

"Couple of posters, some clay if I don't find my usual stuff down there, a photo album from the good, old days," He waved with said album before placing it in the box. "and just random things to remember this crazy place by. Always good to have in a new place."

"It's been good having you around." Sarah shuffled her feet, more interested in looking at all the cracks in the walls and ceiling than at her brother.

"It's been good to have been around." His phone let out the low, drawn-out moan of a zombie. Picking it up and pressing the screen a few times, he put it down again and gave her a slanted smile. "Nazz says it's time to head on over."

"Last night with the gang."

"Yep." Ed also felt dread. Dread over the get-together Nazz was throwing one last time for the kids while they all still lived on the same street. To see all of his friends, as well as May and her sisters, one last time before leaving. Over leaving May behind, especially when she herself had decided not to go to college just yet, even if he supported her entirely. Somewhere within his psyche, there had just always been a naive little part that simply assumed that they would all be friends forever and would continue to see each other every day. Little hard to do so from Sydney though. "You're ready?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go meet our friends then." He stood up, brushed some dust off his knees and walked past her, but was stopped at the sound of a shaky breath being drawn and a trembling hand connecting with his elbow.

"Ed." Sarah's thick voice made him turn around in concern and upon seeing the tears stream down her cheeks, he too almost lost it for never wanting his sister to feel sad. "I don't want you to leave, big brother."

"I know." She threw herself into his open arms, half-choking and half-sobbing into his T-shirt, balling up fistfuls of his old, green jacket. "I know."

"I'm gonna miss you, you stupid-" He cradled her head gently when she convulsed in another sob and stroked her fiery, red hair softly. Tears formed in his eyes as well and began to roll down the length of his stubby nose. Even if a new beginning sounded extremely promising, he wasn't sure if he wanted to end such a great chapter of his life to do obtain it.

"I'm gonna miss you too, baby sister."

**July**

Double-D recoiled in surprise at the loud horn blaring just outside his open window. Sticking his head outside, he smiled down to May and Marie standing by the fixed up retro van he and his friends had once found in the junkyard and was now baptized 'Megan'. Soon, as the trio would set out to drive across the country to his university, he would know if he had actually succeeded in restoring the vehicle properly.

"I shall be right down." He closed the window and, once turned away from it, let out a grim sigh. Apart from his bed, which had been covered up in plastic, and his desk, which simply stood there all desk-like, his room and sanctuary for all his life in Peach Creek felt desolate. Books, thick and bursting with secret, no longer adorned his shelves, the model of the solar system had been taken down from the ceiling and his neatly organized wardrobe had been divided equally between neatly organized brown boxes; one of which waited for him downstairs.

Then there was the other box, the one he had hardly possessed the courage to pack. The things which he did not dare to forget. His friends, his family, events relating to both. Objects which to the casual observer held no more value than that which one could sell it for, but to him held memories rich with laughter. Pictures featuring people close to him, some of which would be embarking on similar journeys to his own. The odd gift he had received though repulsed by at first could later make him chuckle at the thought put into it. Yes, Ed's clay sperm candle holder fell into that third category.

He dragged a finger along the surface of the desk as he walked by it. Spotless, of course. There were no certainties that his parents would take the time to clean his room while he was away, he knew that. Ever so busy with their respective occupations. A shudder came over him, imagining the fine layer of dust that would coat his furniture upon returning home.

An idea popped into his mind suddenly and while he thought it a bittersweet thing to do, perhaps that would show the underlying and undisclosed emotions he had harbored towards his parents for so many years. Reaching into his pocket, he quickly wrote down something in neat, cursive writing on a square piece of yellow paper. With one last look into his once private refuge, he attached the sticky note to the door and walked down the stairs, opening the door to let the two Kanker sisters help him carry out what things he wanted to bring with into his new life.

_Left for school,  
>dinner is in the<br>refrigerator.  
>I shall see you<br>for the Holidays._

_Love, Eddward._

**August**

Eddy parted the curtains and peered down on all the people down below. If any of them were freshmen, they sure were quick at the whole socializing thing. He'd been there two days and hadn't talked to anyone except the lady at the registration desk.

It wasn't that he didn't want to or that he wouldn't eventually get around to it, no. It was the fact that realization hadn't hit him yet.

He still figured that Kevin would pull back up with his dad's station wagon, they'd go back to Georgia and pick up Nazz and then head back home to meet Ed and Jonny at the airport. Drive back to the Cul-de-Sac where Rolf would still be tending to the farm, Double-D would already be home and they'd call over the Kanker sisters for a movie night. Oh, and the two twerps too.

It just didn't feel real, any of it. That he, Eddy Skipper McGee, was standing in a dorm room, so far away from the only place he'd ever knowingly called home without any of his friends there to back him up. It had never occurred to him that even though they were all going to college, they'd be so cut off from each other. Sure, he talked to Lee every day, checked up on her college experience, and made sure to call Ed or Double-D whenever the time zones where aligned or the brainiac wouldn't be going on and on about the amazing campus at Johns Hopkins. But it wasn't the same. He felt like he needed them there physically to help him get through this.

Throwing a glance at his nightstand told him otherwise. It was one of two small statues of the three Eds Ed had sculpted as his and Double-D's graduation gifts; a well-made representation of their friendship as a whole. Ed's mouth open wide in a gut-bursting laughter, Double-D with his finger raised and preaching from a book while his own clay counterpart rubbed his hands together and had literal dollar signs in his eyes. He slumped down on his bed and picked it up, a sad smile appearing. He never could've imagined that they would ever be apart like this. At least they were together in spirit.

Turning the statue over to look for some of those little details Ed always loved to add, he almost dropped the whole thing in surprise upon discovering that there was a short text etched into the statue's base. His eyes darted back and forth, eagerly finding out its meaning, and had to rub his eyes quickly with his shirt sleeve to stop the tears threatening to let loose. Of course Ed had asked Double-D to write something, just like he had done on Double-D's. Yeah, he'd make friends in college, but not one of them would even come close to replacing the ones he always carried with him.

_"So they went off together. But__ wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that chaotic place on a cul-de-sac on Rethink Avenue three boys will always be playing.__" Ed, Edd n Eddy._


End file.
